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A   SALEM    SHIPMASTER 


George   Nichols,    from   a  photograph    taken   during   the 

civil   war,    about   1862,    when    about 

84  years  of  age. 


CA    SALEM    SHIPMASTER 
AND    MERCHANT^ 

THE    AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 
GEORGE    NICHOLS 


EDITED    WITH     INTRODUCTION     AND     NOTES    AND 
CONCLUDING  CHAPTERS  BY  HIS  GRANDDAUGHTER 

MARTHA  NICHOLS 


BOSTON 

THE  FOUR  SEAS  COMPANY 
1921 


Copyright,  1921,  by 
THE  FOUR  SEAS  COMPANY 


The  Four  Seas  Company 
Boston,    Mass,  U.  S.  A. 


This  autobiography  was  dictated  by  George  Nichols 
over  fifty  years  ago,  when  he  was  eighty  years  old. 


The  narrative  deals  chiefly  with  his  seafaring  life 
at  the  close  of  the  i8th  century  and  the  opening 
of  the  igth.  His  voyages  were  principally  to 
the  far  East:  he  sailed  also  to  the  north  of 
Europe,  to  England  and  to  the  Mediterranean. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH 

EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS 

MASTER  AND  SUPERCARGO 

MARRIAGE  AND  LAST  VOYAGES. 

WATCH  STORY  AND  CONCLUDING  REMARKS 

GLIMPSES  INTO  His  HOME  LIFE  . 

WITH  THE  GRANDCHILDREN     .... 

INDEX 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


GEORGE  NICHOLS  AT  EIGHTY-FOUR  frontispiece 

THE  BIRTHPLACE  OF  GEORGE  NICHOLS  18 

EARLY  HOME  IN  PORTSMOUTH 22 

ICHABOD  NICHOLS 28 

GEORGE  NICHOLS  AS  A  YOUNG  MAN  ....  32 

AN  OLD  SALEM  GATEWAY 38 

THE  SHIP  "ACTIVE" 48 

THE  FEDERAL  STREET  HOUSE 58 

WHERE   GEORGE   NICHOLS   AND   SALLY   PEIRCE 

WERE  MARRIED 62 

WHERE  THE  INDIA  CHINA  WAS  KEPT  ...  76 

THE  SOUTHWEST  PARLOR 84 

A  DOORWAY  IN  THE  DRAWING  ROOM  ....  94 

THE  DRAWING  ROOM  MANTEL  PIECE.      .      .      .  100 

THE  MIRROR  FROM  FRANCE 104 

BETSY  PEIRCE'S  ROOM 108 

THE  GUEST  ROOM  FOR  THE  GRANDCHILDREN.      .  112 

THE  BROAD  FRONT  STAIRS 116 

GEORGE  NICHOLS  AT  SEVENTY  ....  120 


A   SALEM    SHIPMASTER 


INTRODUCTION 

IN  EDITING  the  following  Autobiography  of  my 
grandfather,  George  Nichols,  I  am  influenced  by 
the  valued  advice  of  a  friend  who,  having  read  the 
manuscript,  expresses  the  opinion  that  it  ought 
to  be  given  to  the  public,  not  only  on  account  of 
its  worth  historically,  but  as  an  interesting  char- 
acter sketch. 

My  grandfather  came  from  a  long  line  of  sturdy 
ancestors,  men  and  women  of  strong  convictions 
and  with  the  courage  to  maintain  them.  One  of 
his  ancestors  on  his  grandmother  Nichols'  side 
was  Provided  Southwick,  who  was  ordered  to  be 
sold  into  slavery  for  inability  to  pay  the  fines 
imposed  upon  her  for  being  a  Quaker  and  unwil- 
lingness to  yield  her  principles,  a  fine  example  of 
faithfulness  to  an  ideal. 

The  story  is  told  by  Whittier  in  his  poem, 
entitled  "Cassandra  Southwick."  She  was  the 
mother  of  Provided,  but  it  was  the  daughter,  not 
the  mother,  who  was  sentenced. 

The  frequent  references  to  the  disturbed  polit- 
ical conditions  in  Europe  at  the  close  of  the  18th 
century,  giving  opportunity  for  occasional  feats 
of  daring,  add  spice  to  the  narrative. 

This  Autobiography  was  dictated  by  my  grand- 
father when  he  was  eighty  years  old,  in  the 

11 


12  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

Nichols  house,  No.  80  Federal  Street,  Salem, 
Mass.,  now  so  widely  known  through  photographs 
and  magazine  illustrations,  and  generally  consid- 
ered as  the  masterpiece  of  Samuel  Mclntire,1 
whose  name  and  work  have  become  famous. 

In  this  house  he  married  his  cousin,  Sarah 
Peirce,  and  in  this  house  he  passed  the  last 
twenty-five  years  of  his  life. 

The  fact  that  he  was  born  on  the  fourth  of  July 
gave  an  added  interest  at  the  period  when  that 
date  meant  so  much  to  the  nation.  For  the 
family,  at  least,  it  was  the  day  of  days,  when 
children,  grandchildren  and  friends  gathered  to 
do  him  honor. 

In  looking  over  some  papers  recently  I  found 
the  following  sketch  in  the  handwriting  of  my 
aunt,  Miss  Lydia  R.  Nichols,  narrating  the  facts 
given  to  her  by  her  father,  George  Nichols. 

"Sketch  of  the  latter  years  of  my  grandfather, 
Mr.  Ichabod  Nichols'2  life,  dictated  by  my  father, 
George  Nichols. 

1  Samuel  Mclntire  was  born  in  Salem  on  the  corner  of 
Norman  and  Mill  Streets  in  1757,  and  died  in  1811  at  31 
Summer  Street.    He  was  a  noted  architect  and  "planned 
the  old  Court  House,  which  was  very  much  admired  for 
the   symmetry  and   gracefulness   of  its   proportions."     He 
also  designed  the  South  Church,  Hamilton  Hall,  the  Assem- 
bly House  and  many  of  the  most  beautiful  private  resi- 
dences   of    that    period,    which    are    still    standing    in 
Salem. — Ed. 

2  Ichabod  Nichols,  born  in  Salem,  May  1st,  1749;   died 
July  2nd,  1839,  married   Lydia,   second   daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin Ropes.     She  was  a  woman  of  great  dignity,  unusual 
executive   ability   and    strength    of   character.     They   had 
eleven  children,  nine  sons  and  two  daughters. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

"About  the  year  18081  he  purchased  a  part  of 
the  Pickering  estate  on  the  borders  of  the  Salem 
turnpike  and  about  a  mile  from  the  centre  of  the 
town.  It  was  a  very  hilly,  rocky  piece  of  land  of 
about  230  acres.  His  design  from  the  first  was 
to  make  of  it  a  milk  farm,  an  undertaking  but 
very  few  people  would  have  engaged  in,  but  his 
great  energy  of  character  and  fondness  for  agri- 
cultural pursuits  enabled  him  to  overcome  all 
obstacles  and  after  a  few  years  of  persevering 
industry  he  had  the  pleasure  of  looking  upon  a 
farm  which  was  the  wonder  and  astonishment  of 
all  who  had  known  it  before  it  came  into  his 
hands.  He  kept  from  thirty-five  to  forty  cows, 
besides  cattle  and  horses  to  do  the  work  of  the 
farm.  His  milk  bills  amounted  to  two  or  three 
thousand  dollars  annually.  He  set  out  a  large 
orchard  of  apple  trees,  several  hundred  of  which 
were  in  a  bearing  state  at  the  time  he  sold  the 
farm. 

"My  grandfather  spent  a  great  deal  of  time 
upon  his  farm  and  frequently  walked  up  to  it  from 
his  place  of  residence,  a  distance  of  a  mile,  two 
or  three  times  a  day. 

"He  was  a  very  early  riser,  and  I  have  known 
him  to  walk  up  and  back  again  by  6  o'clock  to 
breakfast;  he  walked  very  rapidly  always,  in  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  carrying  a  cane,  and  anec- 


lAccording  to  the  Court  Records,  a  portion  of  this  land 
was  bought  in  1813,  the  remainder  in  1824. 
The  farm  was  sold  to  Horace  Ware  in  1835. 


14  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

dotes  are  told  of  gentlemen  trying  to  keep  pace 
with  him,  but  finding  it  very  difficult,  they  would 
sometimes  give  up  in  despair. 

"When  more  than  eighty  years  of  age  he  would 
do  more  work  than  most  men  of  forty.  On  one 
occasion  when  getting  out  stones  for  a  wall,  a 
large  rock  fell  upon  the  forefinger  of  his  right 
hand,  bruising  it  so  severely  that  amputation  was 
soon  found  to  be  necessary.  'Well,  doctor,'  he 
said,  'do  it  as  soon  as  possible,  for  I  am  in  a  great 
hurry  to  be  at  my  farm.'  Upon  that  he  held  out 
his  hand,  not  allowing  anyone  to  support  it  and 
in  less  than  half  an  hour  the  finger  was  off  and 
dressed,  and  he  was  on  his  way  walking  to  the 
farm,  I  believe,  as  usual. 

"My  grandfather  was  said  to  be  one  of  the  best 
practical  farmers  in  the  county  of  Essex.  He 
continued  to  hold  this  farm  for  about  twenty-five 
years,  during  which  time  his  interest  in  it  was 
unabated.  After  the  death  of  my  grandmother, 
which  occurred  four  or  five  years  before  his  own, 
his  interest  and  energy  failed  somewhat.  His 
health,  however,  continued  almost  unimpaired 
until  within  a  fortnight  of  his  death,  and  he  was 
seldom  confined  to  the  house  even  for  a  day. 

"He  died  of  old  age,  appearing  to  have  no  par- 
ticular disease,  at  the  age  of  ninety  years  and  six 
weeks,  on  the  second  of  July,  1839. 

"While  interested  in  farming  pursuits,  he  was 
also  engaged  in  foreign  commerce  with  my  father 
and  others,  but  took  no  active  part  in  the  business. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

"An  incident  characteristic  of  my  grandfather 
occurred  when  he  must  have  been  nearly  or  quite 
eighty-five  years  old.  He  owned  several  acres  of 
grass  land  in  North  Salem  and  in  the  haying 
season  he  was  in  the  habit  of  working  there. 
One  very  hot  day,  when  the  thermometer  was 
nearly  or  quite  a  hundred,  my  father  missed  my 
grandfather  and  going  over  to  his  field,  he  found 
him  there  hard  at  work,  and  in  a  high  state  of 
perspiration.  'Sir,'  said  my  father,  'I  think  you 
do  very  wrong  to  be  here  this  hot  day.'  He 
looked  up  quite  disturbed.  'George,  I  never  mean 
to  rust  out.'  'Oh  no,  sir,'  my  father  replied,  'If 
you  should  never  do  another  hour's  work,  people 
would  not  call  you  lazy.' 

"My  grandfather  was  always  a  great  reader, 
and  he  retained  his  interest  in  reading  until  within 
a  few  years  of  his  death,  when  his  sight  failed, 
after  that,  he  took  as  much  pleasure  in  having 
his  friends  read  to  him,  listening  to  them  many 
hours  every  day  with  unabated  interest.  He  read 
as  he  did  everything  else,  with  his  whole  soul.  It 
is  said  that  he  read  through  Marshall's  'Washing- 
ton' every  year  and  the  'Spectator'  was  a  very 
favorite  book  of  his. 

"His  feelings  were  very  social  and  continued  so 
to  the  close  of  his  life. 

"He  possessed  strong  religious  feelings,  but 
made  no  public  profession  of  his  faith  until  within 
a  few  years  of  his  death,  when  he  joined  the  North 


16 


Church1  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  Dr.  Brazer,  but 
without  being  baptized." 

In  reading  the  above  sketch,  it  is  easy  to  see 
from  whom  my  grandfather,  George  Nichols,  in- 
herited his  energy,  determination  and  boldness, 
but  I  leave  him  to  portray  his  own  character  in 
the  pages  that  follow. 

MARTHA  NICHOLS 

i  The  North  Church  was  founded  in  1772,  liberal  Congre- 
gational. The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Thomas  Barnard,  Jr., 
whose  influence  with  Col.  Leslie  on  that  Sunday  afternoon 
in  February,  1775,  prevented  bloodshed  at  the  North 
Bridge,  and  forms  a  dramatic  and  historic  incident  in  the 
church's  annals. 

Later  it  became  Unitarian,  and  was  the  third  society  of 
that  denomination  in  Salem. 

Rev.  Dr.  Brazer  was  the  third  pastor,  from  1820  to 
1846.— Ed. 


CHAPTER  I. 
BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH 

I  was  born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  on  the  fourth  of 
July,  1778,  in  the  house1  now  occupied  by  Henry 
Ropes,2  near  the  Custom  House  in  Derby  Street. 
When  about  eleven  months  old,  my  parents 
removed  to  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  We  occupied  a 
house3  purchased  by  my  father,  of  the  Wentworth 
family,  in  the  south  part  of  the  town.  In  this 
house  we  resided  until  we  returned  to  Salem  in 

1  This  house  was  built  by  Richard  Derby  in  1762.     My 
great  grandfather,  Ichabod  Nichols,  moved  to  Portsmouth 
in  1779,  and  a  few  years  later,  Elias  Haskett  Derby,  the 
son  of  Richard  Derby,   sold  the  house  to  Henry  Prince, 
whose   daughter   married   Henry  Ropes,   a   cousin   of   my 
grandfather.     For  more  than  ninety  years  the  house  re- 
mained in  the  Ropes  family  until  sold  to  Daniel  Leahay  in 
1872.     It  was  a  fine  house  in  its   day,  and  the  staircase 
is  beautiful.    The  bricks  of  which  the  house  was   built 
came  from  England.     It  is  now  in  1912  the  oldest  brick 
house  standing  in  Salem. — Ed. 

2  Henry  Ropes,  an  own  cousin  of  my  grandfather,  born 
Sept.  25,  1791,  married  his  cousin,  Mary  Prince,  and  died 
Sept.  29,  1861. 

s  Built  by  one  of  the  Wentworth  family  in  1760.  Sold 
to  Major  Gardner  about  1792.  Situated  on  the  corner  of 
Gardner  and  Mechanic  Streets. — Facts  gathered  from 
Brewster's  "Rambles  About  Portsmouth,"  and  from  other 
sources. 

Six  of  my  great-grandfather  Ichabod  Nichols'  children 
were  born  in  this  house,  two  daughters  and  four  sons. — Ed. 

17 


18  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

December,  1793.  When  quite  a  child  I  was  some- 
thing of  an  invalid,  being  very  much  afflicted  with 
the  rickets,  but  after  recovering  from  that  com- 
plaint, I  became  a  very  healthy  boy.  When  not 
more  than  two  years  of  age  I  was  sent  to  school 
to  an  old  woman  named  "Molly  Shaw,"  and  my 
cradle  was  sent  with  me.  I  remained  with  her 
some  time.  Mrs.  Mills,  grandmother  of  the  late 
Luke  Leighton,  was  my  second  teacher,  but  for 
how  long  a  time  I  cannot  now  remember. 

The  first  incident  in  my  life  of  which  I  have 
any  recollection  is  the  falling  from  a  wharf,  a 
distance  of  twelve  feet,  when  the  the  tide  was  low, 
and  striking  my  head  with  so  much  force,  that 
the  scar  is  still  to  be  seen.  I  knocked  out,  too, 
all  of  my  front  teeth.  This  happened  when  I  was 
about  six  or  seven  years  old. 

Many  times  I  narrowly  escaped  being  drowned. 
When  very  young  and  before  I  learned  to  swim, 
I  fell  into  very  deep  water  a  short  distance  from 
my  father's  house,  but  I  saved  myself  by  paddling 
with  my  hands  and  feet  until  fortunately  I  got 
where  the  water  was  shoal. 

Again,  when  swimming  across  the  Piscataqua 
River,  my  strength  began  to  fail  me  when  in  the 
middle  of  the  river.  I  coolly  turned  over  on  my 
back  and  lay  quite  still  (only  moving  my  hands 
and  feet  a  little  to  keep  myself  from  sinking)  until 
I  got  rested,  when  I  commenced  swimming  again, 
and  by  resting  in  this  way  several  times,  I  finally 
succeeded  in  reaching  land. 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  19 

The  street  in  which  my  father's  house  stood 
sloped  down  toward  the  water,  the  foot  of  the 
street  being  about  twenty  feet  from  the  wharf. 
In  the  bright  moonlight  evenings  in  the  winter, 
the  boys  were  in  the  habit  of  assembling  here  in 
great  numbers  for  the  pleasure  of  coasting.  One 
very  cold  evening  in  the  month  of  January,  when 
as  I  suppose,  I  was  about  nine  or  ten  years  old,  I 
went  out  to  coast  with  a  very  large  party  of  boys. 
In  my  ambition  to  go  as  far  as  possible  I  went 
head  first  directly  over  the  wharf,  sled  and  all. 
The  water  was  very  deep,  probably  six  feet,  and 
it  was  not  frozen — that  river  seldom  freezing,  as 
the  current  is  very  rapid.  There  was  an  anchor 
in  the  river  within  a  few  feet  of  the  spot  in  which 
I  fell.  With  the  assistance  of  some  boys  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  out  of  the  water,  went  home, 
dried  and  warmed  myself  before  a  large  fire,  and 
in  the  course  of  half  an  hour,  I  was  out  coasting 
again  and  came  near  going  over  the  wharf  a 
second  time. 

As  I  crossed  the  bridge  one  morning  on  my  way 
to  school,  I  slipped  under  the  railing  of  the  bridge 
and  fell  about  twelve  feet  into  the  mud,  the  tide 
fortunately  being  low.  I  went  home  all  covered 
with  mud  and  got  a  severe  box  on  the  ear  for  my 
carelessness,  and  this  from  my  mother,  which  I 
thought  very  strange  treatment,  considering  the 
risk  I  had  run. 

When  quite  small,  I  took  it  into  my  head  one 
day  to  climb  the  chimney  of  my  sleeping  apart- 


20  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

ment,  which  had  never  been  used.  I  mounted  it 
with  about  as  much  ease  as  one  would  go  upstairs 
and,  after  this,  climbing  chimneys  was  quite  a 
favorite  amusement  with  me.  At  one  time  I  rec- 
ollect that  I  got  my  clothes  very  much  soiled  in 
going  up  a  very  large  old-fashioned  chimney,  and 
not  liking  to  appear  before  my  mother  in  that 
state,  I  took  off  my  clothes  and  washed  them,  and 
while  they  were  drying,  I  danced  about  on  the 
grass. 

When  about  eight  or  ten  years  old,  we  had  a 
troublesome  old  cat,  which  the  domestics  were 
wanting  to  get  rid  of,  and  they  asked  me  to  kill 
her,  which  I  readily  undertook  to  do. 

I  borrowed  a  large  horse  pistol  and  put  into  it 
a  double  charge  of  powder  and  shot.  I  then  went 
in  pursuit  of  the  cat  and 'soon  found  her  sunning 
herself  near  the  house. 

By  the  way,  I  knew  nothing  about  shooting, 
had  never  fired  off  a  pistol  in  my  life.  Notwith- 
standing this,  I  took  up  my  pistol,  heavily  loaded 
as  it  was,  without  any  feeling  of  fear,  held  it  in 
the  direction  of  my  eye  and  pointed  it  at  the  cat. 
I  snapped  it  two  or  three  times,  but  it  would  not 
go  off.  I  then  scraped  the  flint,  when  suddenly 
it  went  off  striking  me  with  great  force  in  the 
forehead. 

I  killed  the  cat,  but  in  doing  it,  I  nearly  killed 
myself.  I  lay  on  the  ground  for  some  time  en- 
tirely insensible,  and  when  I  at  last  came  to,  I 
made  out  to  crawl  into  the  house,  the  blood 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  21 

streaming  from  my  forehead  and  nose  and  from 
one  finger  of  my  right  hand,  which  was  cut  nearly 
to  the  bone.  I  now  carry  with  me  two  scars  from 
that  accident,  on  my  forehead  and  finger. 

One  afternoon  at  dancing  school  a  girl  brought 
me  a  crooked  rusty  pin,  and  said,  "You  dare  not 
swallow  that?"  "Yes,  I  dare  do  it,"  I  said.  So 
saying,  I  put  it  in  my  mouth  and  it  went  down  my 
throat  head  first.  Not  satisfied  with  that,  they 
kept  bringing  more  to  me,  until  finally  I  swallowed 
seven  crooked  rusty  pins.  Afterwards  I  danced 
and  played  about  as  unconcerned  as  possible. 
Evening  came  and  a  sister  told  my  mother  what  I 
had  been  doing.  She  was  exceedingly  alarmed 
and  immediately  sent  for  the  family  physician. 
He  came  and  gave  me  medicine,  but  no  inconven- 
ience was  ever  after  experienced  by  me. 

In  childhood,  as  in  mature  years,  I  was  always 
fond  of  a  joke.  My  mother  one  day  made  some 
sugar  gingerbread,  but  was  disappointed  in  the 
baking,  it  proved  heavy.  "Oh,"  said  she,  "it  is 
not  fit  for  the  dogs  to  eat."  "Well,"  said  I  to 
myself,  "if  that  is  the  case,  I  think  I  may  venture 
to  eat  it."  So  accordingly,  I  filled  my  pockets 
with  it  day  after  day  until  it  was  all  gone.  A  few 
days  after,  a  neighbor  came  in  to  take  tea  with  us. 
Mother  went  to  her  pot  of  gingerbread,  and  lo,  it 
had  vanished.  "George,"  said  she  to  me,  "Do  you 
know  what  has  become  of  that  gingerbread?" 
"Why,  yes,  ma'am.  You  said  it  was  not  fit  for  the 
dogs  to  eat,  but  I  liked  it  very  much  and  so  I  have 


22  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

eaten  it."  She  was  very  much  amused  and 
turned  away  to  conceal  a  smile. 

Mother  had  an  old  nurse  in  her  family  by  the 
name  of  Fishley.  She  was  a  petulant  old  woman, 
and  when  a  child  it  was  my  delight  to  tease  her. 
She  belonged  to  the  sect  of  the  Methodists,  not 
a  very  numerous  sect  in  those  days.  Having  fre- 
quently attended  their  meetings,  I  had  become 
quite  familiar  with  their  cant  phrases. 

And  now  imagine  me  on  a  Sunday  afternoon  in 
an  outer  kitchen,  on  the  top  of  a  high  pump,  with 
my  head  up  in  a  scuttle,  the  children  assembled 
around  me,  and  I  addressing  them  in  the  true 
Methodistical  style.  "Oh,  my  dearly  beloved 
brethren!  Sweet  Sister  Fishley!  Dear  Brother 
Crosswell,"  etc.,  and  so  on. 

And  now  Aunt  Fishley  comes  in.  She  listens. 
Her  anger  arises,  she  becomes  more  and  more 
excited,  till  at  last  she  breaks  out,  "Get  down,  you 
Satan,  get  down." 

The  uproar  reaches  mother's  ears.  She  comes 
out — "What  is  all  this  disturbance  about?"  I 
still  keep  on  preaching,  "Oh,  my  dearly  beloved! 
Oh,  Brother  Crosswell,  the  child  is  ruined,"  etc. 
Convulsed  with  laughter,  mother  turns  upon  her 
heels  and  leaves  me  to  finish  my  sermon. 

My  father  had  a  fine  large  garden  in  Ports- 
mouth and  I  was  early  put  to  work  in  it.  I  did  a 
great  deal  in  it  and  I  enjoyed  it,  as  I  have  ever 
enjoyed  working  in  a  garden.  Besides  this,  I  had 
to  drive  the  cow  to  pasture,  feed  the  pigs,  etc. 


—    o 

~    HH 


o  p 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  23 

Indeed  a  great  deal  of  care  came  upon  me,  partic- 
ularly when  my  father  was  away.  And  I  had  to 
work  very  hard  in  order  to  get  any  time  to  play. 
I  think  it  was  in  the  year  1783  I  was  sent  to 
Benj.  Dearborn's1  school.  Mr.  D —  -  was  the 
most  unsuitable  person  for  a  teacher  that  I  ever 
knew,  being  very  tyrannical  towards  all  the  schol- 
ars, girls  as  well  as  boys,  but  particularly  so 
towards  me;  but  being  a  very  high  spirited  boy 
his  severity  had  a  bad  effect  upon  me.  I  felt  that 
I  was  not  made  to  be  flogged  and  I  would  not 
submit  to  it.  One  day  entering  the  room,  just 
after  the  school  had  commenced,  Dearborn,  who 
was  standing  near  the  door,  gave  me  a  blow  with 
his  fist  on  the  side  of  the  head.  I  fell,  but  before 
reaching  the  floor  he  caught  me  and  gave  me  a 
blow  on  the  other  side.  These  blows  were  re- 
peated until  I  became  nearly  insensible.  His 

i  From  "Rambles  About  Portsmouth,"  I  find  the  follow- 
ing sketch  of  Mr.  Dearborn,  written  by  the  widow  of  Capt. 
Wm.  Brewster,  when  she  was  eighty-five  years  old,  entitled 
"A  few  Recollections  of  Mr.  Dearborn's  School  in  1780": 
"Mr.  Dearborn  taught  the  first  school  in  Portsmouth  for 
misses  in  a  large  room  in  his  own  dwelling  house.  The 
scholars  brought  the  'Spectator'  and  the  'Guardian'  and 
such  books  as  they  had,  until  suitable  books  for  reading 
could  be  procured  from  Boston.  Mr.  Dearborn  wanted  to 
get  up  a  class  in  grammar,  but  could  only  prevail  upon 
six  scholars  to  join.  Many  parents  thought  it  an  unneces- 
sary branch  for  misses  to  attend  to.  The  grammars  were 
obtained  from  Boston.  I  have  mine  still,  bought  in  March, 
1781." 

Later,  according  to  Mrs.  Brewster,  the  school  was 
enlarged,  there  were  assistant  teachers,  and  it  was  in  a 
flourishing  condition,  when  Mr.  Dearborn  left  for  Bos- 
ton.—Ed. 


24  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

scholars  were  very  much  alarmed  and  burst  into 
tears,  supposing  that  he  intended  to  kill  me. 
Notwithstanding  all  this  cruel  treatment,  I  con- 
tinued at  his  school,  I  think,  two  or  three  years, 
though  without  learning  anything. 

From  him  I  went  to  Amos  Tappan,1  brother  of 
Professor  Tappan,  and  remained  at  his  school 
until  September  or  October  of  1790.  He  kept  a 
very  good  school,  excepting  that,  like  Mr.  Dear- 
born, he  was  too  fond  of  using  the  ferule  and 
particularly  so  upon  me,  having  probably  heard 
from  Mr.  D.—  -  that  I  was  a  very  unruly  boy. 
I  still  resolved,  however,  that  I  would  not  be  beat- 
en with  impunity,  and  so  the  more  he  flogged  me 
the  worse  I  behaved.  After  being  with  him  some 
months,  he  changed  his  course  of  treatment, 
which  had  a  very  happy  effect  upon  me,  so  much 
so  that  he  never  again  had  recourse  to  the  rod. 

My  brother  Ichabod2   went  to   Mr.   Tappan's 

1  Amos  Tappan  was  one  of  the  three  deacons  in  the  old 
North  Church  in  Portsmouth  in  1812.     "They  all  took  their 
seats  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  facing  the  congregation.     No 
boy  smiled  when  he  passed  a  deacon  in  those  days." — 
Brewster,  "Rambles  About  Portsmouth,"  p.  327. 

2  Ichabod  Nichols,  the  fourth  son  of  Ichabod  and  Lydia 
Ropes  Nichols,  was  born  July  5th,  1784,  in  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.    When  he  was  nine  years  old,  his  parents  returned 
to  Salem,  Mass.     He  graduated  from  Harvard  College  with 
the  highest  honors,  in  the  celebrated  class  of  1802,  num- 
bering sixty  members. 

He  at  once  began  his  studies  for  the  ministry  with  his 
pastor,  Dr.  Barnard  of  the  North  Church  in  Salem.  In  1805 
Harvard  College  sought  him  as  a  tutor  in  mathematics. 
He  kept  that  position  for  four  years  until  he  accepted  a 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  25 

school  with  me.  He  was  a  fine  scholar,  very 
much  of  the  stamp  of  Buckminster,1  but  two  or 
three  years  younger  than  he.  At  one  time  he  had 
a  severe  cold  and  earache  which  kept  him  awake 
a  greater  part  of  the  night.  Appearing  very  un- 

call  as  colleague  to  Dr.  Deane  at  the  First  Parish  Church 
in  Portland,  Maine.  The  salary,  $1,200,  was  much  larger 
than  any  received  in  the  town  or  State,  and  it  was  not 
changed  during  his  whole  ministry.  He  was  installed  on 
June  7th,  1809,  and  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Deane,  in  1814,  he 
became  sole  pastor,  and  so  continued  until  January,  1855, 
when  Rev.  Horatio  Stebbins  became  his  colleague. 

On  account  of  failing  health,  Dr.  Nichols  wished  to 
withdraw  entirely  from  the  ministry,  but  his  people  were 
unwilling  to  sever  a  connection  which  had  always  been 
so  harmonious. 

He  consented  to  retain  his  official  position,  but  refused 
a  salary  that  was  offered  to  him. 

He  lived  four  years  longer,  dying  in  Cambridge,  Jan.  2nd, 
1859.  In  1821  he  received  the  degree  of  D.  D.  from 
Bowdoin  College,  and  in  1831  the  same  from  Harvard 
College. — From  an  obituary  notice  in  a  Portland  paper, 
Jan.  5,  1859. 

"The  ladies  of  the  First  Parish  in  Portland  erected  a 
monument  to  his  memory.  It  was  a  marble  statue  of  St. 
John,  the  Evangelist,  by  Akers,  who  executed  the  work 
in  Italy." — Portland  Advertiser. 

i  Joseph  Stevens  Buckminster  was  born  in  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  May  26th,  1784.  His  ancestors  on  both  his  mother's 
and  father's  side  were  clergymen  for  several  generations. 
He  was  fitted  for  Harvard  College  at  twelve  years  old,  but 
did  not  enter  until  he  was  thirteen.  After  graduation  he 
prepared  for  the  ministry  and  was  ordained  as  pastor  of 
the  Brattle  Street  Church  in  Boston  when  he  was  twenty 
years  old.  His  sermons  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of 
the  preachers  of  his  time.  He  died  June  9th,  1812,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-eight. — From  Memoirs  prefixed  to  the  Ser- 
mons of  Buckminster. 


26  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

well  in  the  morning,  his  mother  tried  to  dissuade 
him  from  going  to  school,  but  he  was  so  earnest 
to  go  that  she  at  length  consented  to  his  going. 
When  called  up  to  recite,  his  master  asked  him  a 
question,  but  he  appeared  very  stupid  and  did  not 
answer  as  readily  as  usual.  Mr.  Tappan  not 
understanding  the  reason,  and  being  a  very 
passionate  man,  caught  him  by  the  ear,  pulling  it 
very  violently.  This  gave  him  great  pain  and  he 
screamed  as  though  a  sword  had  been  run 
through  him,  upon  which  all  the  scholars  shouted. 
I  felt  very  indignant  and  rising  from  my  seat  could 
hardly  refrain  from  throwing  a  large  Bible  which 
I  had  in  my  hand  at  his  head.  I  cried  out  invol- 
untarily, "You  are  a  set  of  fools,  altogether." 
After  school  the  master  desired  me  to  stop,  I 
supposed  with  the  intention  of  flogging  me,  but  in 
this  I  was  mistaken.  Had  he  attempted  it,  I 
should  have  defended  myself  to  the  utmost  with 
the  tongs  or  a  stick  of  wood,  both  of  which  were 
near.  He  appeared  very  calm  and  asked  me  if  I 
did  not  think  I  had  spoken  very  improperly  to  him. 
"No,  sir,"  said  I,  "that  child  was  awake  all  last 
night  with  the  earache,  and  was  altogether  too 
sick  to  be  at  school  to-day."  Upon  hearing  this 
Mr.  Tappan  appeared  quite  disturbed  and  after- 
wards came  and  apologized  to  my  mother  for  his 
severity. 

After  leaving  Mr.  Tappan's  school,  I  went  to 
Philips  Academy  at  Exeter,  under  the  charge  of 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  27 

Mr.  Benjamin  Abbott,1  one  of  the  best  men  I  ever 
knew.  To  him  I  am  indebted  more  than  to  any 
other  man  for  much  of  my  success  in  after  life. 
Nothing  worthy  of  note  occurred  to  me  while 
there,  which  was  rather  more  than  a  year. 

From  Exeter  I  returned  to  Portsmouth,  and  at 
the  age  of  thirteen  years,  or  a  little  more,  I 
entered  my  father's  store  as  a  clerk;  a  wholesale 
grocery  store.  This  was  an  office  of  great  respon- 
sibility, as  my  father  would  frequently  go  to 
Boston  or  New  York  and  leave  me  with  the  charge 
of  the  business  for  a  week  or  ten  days  together, 
with  no  one  hi  the  store  but  a  man  to  do  the 
drudgery.  My  cash  receipts  were  then  more  than 
one  hundred  dollars  a  day,  and  I  have  on  his 
return  home,  handed  over  to  him  ten  or  twelve 
hundred  dollars,  a  large  sum  of  money  for  those 
days. 

1  "Benjamin  Abbott,  born  about  1762,  died  in  Exeter, 
N.  H.,  Oct.  25,  1849.  Graduated  at  Harvard  in  1788  and  took 
charge  of  Philips  Academy,  Exeter,  which  he  conducted 
until  1838.  Among  his  pupils  were  Daniel  Webster,  Ed- 
ward Everett,  Lewis  Cass,  Jared  Sparks,  George  Bancroft 
and  John  G.  Palfrey." — Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  American 
Biography. 


CHAPTER  H. 

EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1793,  my  father  gave  up 
this  business  and  removed  to  Salem,1  leaving  me 
Philadelphia,  where  he  was  established  as  a  clerk 
in  Mr.  Anthony's  counting  room. 

This  done,  on  the  third  of  December  I  joined  the 
family  in  Salem.  Here  my  father  connected  to  set- 
tle the  business,  assisted  by  my  oldest  brother,2  who 
was  then  visiting  Portsmouth  from  Philadelphia, 

1  In  the  Salem  Court  House  Records  I  find  the  following: 
"William    Gray,    merchant    of    Salem,    sold    to    Ichabod 
Nichols,  in  consideration  of  £800,  land  and  two  houses  on 
Washington   Street   and   Barton   Square,   the   two   houses 
parallel  to  each  other,  distant  59  ft.  9  in.  from  each  other. 

"Deed  given  by  Mr.  Gray,  Dec.  28,  1791." 

My  great-grandfather,  Ichabod  Nichols,  occupied  the 
house  which  was  59  ft.  9  in.  west  of  the  corner  house,  and 
here  he  died  July  2nd,  1839. 

The  two  houses  were  taken  down  in  1895,  and  the  site 
of  the  house  where  Ichabod  Nichols  lived  is  now  occupied 
by  the  office  of  "The  Salem  News." — Ed. 

2  John  Nichols,  the  oldest  son  of  my  great-grandparents, 
Ichabod  and  Lydia  Ropes  Nichols.     He  was  born  in  Salem, 
Dec.  26th,  1776,  died  at  Point  Petre  Guadaloupe,  June  8, 
1798. 

In  1793  he  was  apprenticed  to  Messrs.  Anthony  &  Son, 
merchants  in  Philadelphia.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he 
was  engaged  to  Miss  Peters  of  Philadelphia. — Ed. 

28 


Ichahod    Nichols,    father   of   George    Nichols,    "in    the    'Court'    dress 
which  he  was  obliged  to  wear  when  as  a  young  captain  of  a 
Salem  vessel  in  the  port  of  St.  Petersburg  he  was  sum- 
moned to  court  by  Catherine  II  of  Russia."     From 
a  portrait  in  possession  of  Mr.   John  White 
Treadwell    Nichols,    of    New    York. 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  29 

himself  in  business  with  Capt.  Benjamin  Hodges.1 
They  purchased  several  small  vessels  and  en- 
gaged in  the  West  India  trade.  For  more  than  a 
year  I  was  employed  as  a  clerk  in  their  counting 
room.  I  felt  at  this  time  a  strong  desire  to  see  the 
world  and  obtain  some  knowledge  of  the  seafar- 
ing life,  so  on  the  28th  of  March,  1795,  I  sailed  in 
the  bark  "Essex"  owned  by  Capt.  William  Orne,2 
with  Capt.  John  Green,3  for  Copenhagen  and  St. 
Petersburg.  I  went  as  a  passenger  and  to  do 
duty  when  able.  Our  passage  out  was  extremely 
rough  and  I  was  for  a  week  or  ten  days  very 
seasick,  after  which  I  was  able  to  stand  my  reg- 
ular watch.  Capt.  G—  -  proved  a  very  unsuit- 
able person  for  a  young  man  to  sail  with,  having 
no  system  on  board  his  vessel.  We  arrived  at 

1  "Capt.  Benjamin  Hodges,  born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  April 
26th,  1754,  died  13th  of  April,  1806,  married  Nov.  19th,  1778, 
Hannah  King,  daughter  of  William  King.     He  lived  on  the 
corner  of  Essex  and  Orange  Streets.     His  daughter  Mary 
married  William  Silsbee.     Mr.  Hodges  was  master  mariner 
and  commanded  the  ship  Grand  Turk,  Astrea  and  many 
other  vessels  in  the  employment  of  Elias  Haskett  Derby." 
—Essex  Institute  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  10. 

2  "Capt.  William  Orne,  born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  Feb.,  1752, 
died  Oct.,  1815.     He  was  an  eminent  merchant,  very  highly 
esteemed.     He  married  a  daughter  of  Judge  Ropes,  who 
died  in  1774   in  the  house  on  Essex  Street,  facing  Cam- 
bridge Street,  an  estate  which  he  bought  from  the  Barnard 
heirs." — Salem  Gazette,  Oct.  18,  1815. 

Capt.  Orne's  daughter  married  Judge  Daniel  White,  who 
was  the  grandfather  of  Miss  Eliza  Orne  White,  the  present- 
day  novelist. — Ed. 

3  "Capt.  John  Green,  a  master  mariner,  born  in  Beverly, 
1753,  died  1827."— Essex  Institute  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  3,  p.  178. 


30  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

Copenhagen  after  a  passage  of  thirty-nine  days, 
having  met  with  no  incidents  worthy  of  note. 
Copenhagen  is  a  beautiful  city,  one  of  the 
pleasantest  I  have  ever  seen.  We  were  there  a 
fortnight,  which  time  I  spent  ashore. 

Having  landed  our  cargo,  an  assorted  one  of 
sugar,  etc.,  we  sailed  for  Cronstadt,  the  outport 
of  St.  Petersburg,  where  we  arrived  in  seven  or 
eight  days.  In  less  than  ten  days  after  leaving 
Copenhagen  it  was  visited  by  a  most  destructive 
fire,  which  consumed  thirteen  hundred  houses, 
including  the  one  in  which  I  boarded.  A  few  days 
after  we  arrived  at  Cronstadt  I  went  to  St.  Peters- 
burg and  passed  a  week  there.  This  city  far 
exceeds  in  magnificence  any  city  that  I  have  ever 
visited,  both  as  regards  its  public  and  private 
buildings.  Having  passed  four  weeks  here  and  in 
Cronstadt  and  taken  in  a  return  cargo  of  Russia 
goods,  hemp,  iron,  etc.,  we  returned  to  Copen- 
hagen. Catherine  II  was  at  the  time  Empress  of 
Russia,  one  of  the  ablest  sovereigns  that  ever  sat 
upon  that  throne.  We  stopped  at  Copenhagen 
two  or  three  days  to  stop  a  leak  in  our  vessel. 
In  coming  out  of  port  we  ran  aground  and 
remained  in  the  sand  some  twenty-four  hours. 
This  accident  we  owed  to  the  stupidity  of  the 
Captain.  The  vessel  was  so  much  injured  in  get- 
ting her  off  as  to  give  us  serious  trouble  after- 
wards. We  stopped  at  Elsinore,  the  port  of 
clearance,  and  from  thence  proceeded  on  our 
passage  home.  When  half  way  across  the 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  31 

Atlantic  we  encountered  a  severe  gale  of  wind 
which  lasted  several  hours.  A  heavy  sea 
followed,  which  unhung  our  rudder  and  placed  us 
in  a  very  unpleasant  situation.  In  the  course  of 
ten  days  the  rudder  was  repaired  and  rehung,  we 
steering  the  vessel  in  the  meantime  with  cables 
together  with  the  sails.  We  arrived  in  Salem 
about  thirty  days  after  encountering  the  gale, 
about  the  sixth  of  October,  1795. 

Although  I  had  had  rough  passages  and  not  the 
most  agreeable  companions,  I  still  felt  a  strong 
desire  to  pursue  a  seafaring  life.  I  had  been  in 
my  father's  counting  room  about  six  months 
when  my  father,  with  others,  purchased  a  vessel 
to  send  to  Manila,  and  appointed  Capt.  Enoch 
Swett1  master  and,  as  he  was  very  ignorant  of 
business,  I  was  appointed  joint  supercargo  with 
him.  We  sailed  from  Salem  on  the  10th  of  May, 
1796,  in  the  brig  "Eunice,"  a  most  unsuitable 
vessel  for  such  a  voyage,  being  a  very  slow  sailing 
vessel.  We  were  about  four  and  a  half  months 
to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  We  went  into  Table 
Bay  for  the  health  of  our  crew  and  to  obtain  pro- 
visions. Cape  Town  is  a  very  delightful  place, 
has  a  fine  climate  and  all  kinds  of  tropical  fruits 
in  great  abundance.  Here  we  obtained  such 
information  as  to  lead  us  to  alter  our  course  to 


i  "Capt.  Enoch  Swett,  a  native  of  Newburyport.  Ship- 
master. He  married  Frances  Williams,  whose  parents 
lived  on  Union  Street  in  Salem.  He  died  at  sea,  Dec.  21st, 
1803,  aged  37  years."— E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  III.,  p.  178. 


32  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

Batavia.  This  was  at  that  time  considered  one 
of  the  most  unhealthy  parts  of  India,  which 
caused  Capt.  Swett  to  hesitate  about  going  there, 
fearing  the  climate  might  prove  fatal  to  me.  I 
insisted,  however,  upon  his  going.  We  left  Cape 
Town  after  a  week's  stay. 

Nothing  of  importance  occurred  until  we  ar- 
rived at  the  Islands  of  St.  Paul  and  Amsterdam, 
about  fifty  degrees  east  and  two  or  three  degrees 
south  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Our  passage 
from  the  Cape  was  about  twenty  days.  Knowing 
that  seals  and  fish  were  very  abundant  near  these 
islands,  we  concluded  to  land  at  St.  Paul's.  Man- 
ning our  boat  we  rowed  in  shore  to  fish  and  soon 
loaded  the  boat  with  fish  and  returned  aboard, 
when  fish  could  be  caught  from  the  vessel.  Capt. 
Swett  having  on  a  previous  voyage  landed  on  this 
island,  thought  he  would  go  again  to  catch  seals. 
He  accordingly  took  a  boat  and  with  two  or  three 
men  and  myself,  all  armed  with  clubs,  made  for 
the  shore.  But  on  approaching  we  found  no  good 
landing  place  and  the  surf  ran  high.  I  sprang, 
however,  upon  a  rock  and  gained  the  island.  The 
noise  aroused  the  seals  with  which  the  whole 
shore  was  lined  and  they  at  once  made  for  the 
water.  Among  them  was  a  very  large  one,  which, 
with  mouth  open,  and  making  a  horrible  noise, 
came  directly  towards  me.  The  monster  came 
within  a  few  feet  of  me  and  then  stopped  and 
growled  hideously.  He  was  much  larger  than  a 
common-sized  calf  and  weighed  probably  from 


Nichols  as  a  young  man. 
Copied  from  a  miniatun-. 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  33 

one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  pounds. 
The  boat  had  been  carried  off  some  distance  by 
the  surf.  The  Captain  became  very  much 
alarmed  for  my  safety  and  called  out  for  me  to 
retreat.  "Where  shall  I  retreat  to?"  said  I,  for  I 
was  entirely  surrounded  by  water.  Fortunately 
for  me  the  water  had  receded  somewhat,  leaving 
here  and  there  a  rock  bare.  Catching  up  one  as 
large  as  my  fist  I  threw  it  at  the  animal  and  hit 
him  on  the  nose,  a  most  tender  spot.  He  fell. 
This  encouraged  me  to  advance,  though  the  boat 
was  still  off  shore  and  no  one  had  been  able  to 
land.  The  captain  and  sailors,  however,  soon 
joined  me  and  we  advanced  up  into  the  island, 
first  hauling  our  boat  upon  the  beach  out  of  reach 
of  the  surf.  We  encountered  as  we  went  an 
incredible  number  of  seals.  In  one  small  place 
there  appeared  to  be  more  than  one  hundred  lying 
basking  in  the  sun  asleep  like  so  many  sheep.  As 
we  approached  they  aroused  and  made  for  the 
water.  We  succeeded  in  knocking  down  a  great 
many  of  them  with  our  clubs,  say  twenty  or  thirty, 
and  desired  the  men  to  carry  them  to  the  boat. 
We,  in  the  meantime,  went  farther  up  into  the 
island  to  visit  a  tent  which  had  been  erected  by 
Mr.  Thomas  Russell1  of  Charlestown,  then  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  merchants  in  New  Eng- 
land. It  was  put  up  for  the  accommodation  of 
seamen  and  was  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 

i  The  tent  was  erected  not  by  Mr.  Thomas  Russell  him- 
self, but  by  the  captain  of  a  vessel  belonging  to  him. 


34  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

the  shore.  We  made  but  a  short  stay,  as  we  were 
anxious  to  get  back  to  the  vessel.  We  expected, 
on  our  return  to  the  boat,  to  find  it  filled  with  the 
seals  which  we  had  knocked  down,  but  the  men, 
instead  of  complying  with  our  instructions,  had 
been  amusing  themselves  with  killing  more.  For 
this  the  captain  reprimanded  them  severely,  and 
they  immediately  proceeded  to  execute  his  orders. 
One  of  them,  a  stout  Dutchman,  would  shoulder 
a  seal  weighing  from  one  to  two  hundred  pounds, 
supposing  him  to  be  dead.  After  going  a  few 
paces  the  seal  would  open  his  mouth  and  growl, 
and  the  fellow  would  throw  him  down  near  the 
boat  and  go  off  for  another.  In  the  meantime, 
he  would  get  up  and  run  into  the  water.  We 
succeeded,  however,  at  last  in  filling  the  boat,  and 
having  obtained  about  a  dozen  skins,  we  pro- 
ceeded to  the  vessel  after  a  most  fatiguing  but 
exceedingly  interesting  day's  work. 

We  then  proceeded  to  Batavia,  at  which  place 
we  arrived  about  the  fifth  of  December,  1796,  after 
a  passage  of  about  two  hundred  and  ten  days 
from  Salem.  Feeling  quite  unwell  and  that  I  had 
symptoms  of  the  yellow  fever  upon  me,  I  remained 
on  board  the  vessel  by  the  advice  of  the  physician. 
This  I  was  the  more  ready  to  do,  as  no  business 
could  be  transacted  for  some  days.  Soon  after 
this  a  violent  gale  came  on  which  caused  much 
destruction  among  the  shipping.  One  large  ship 
of  more  than  a  thousand  tons  was  sunk  within 
a  stone's  throw  of  us.  After  the  gale  I  went 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  35 

ashore  with  a  number  of  our  men.  On  our  way 
we  met  Capt.  Swett,  who  had  remained  on  shore. 
He  was  rejoiced  to  see  me,  as  he  feared  that  I 
had  by  this  time  fallen  a  victim  to  the  fever.  We 
went  to  the  hotel  upon  landing,  a  most  superb 
building  belonging  to  the  Dutch  East  India  Com- 
pany, where  all  foreigners  are  required  to  put  up. 
Here  we  remained  about  nine  weeks,  during 
which  time  we  purchased  our  return  cargo,  con- 
sisting of  sugar,  coffee,  pepper  and  spices. 

I  left  Batavia  on  the  7th  of  February,  1797. 
This  city  is  said  to  have  been  the  most  beautiful 
in  the  East  Indies,  with  a  population  perhaps  of 
one  hundred  thousand.  Before  leaving  the  city 
I  invited  two  gentlemen  with  whom  I  had  been 
intimate  to  come  to  my  room  and  take  a  parting 
glass  with  me.  While  sitting  together  one  of  the 
gentlemen  said  to  the  other,  at  the  same  time 
pointing  to  my  bed,  "Such  a  person,  a  particular 
friend  of  mine,  died  on  that  bed,"  to  which  the 
other  replied:  "A  friend  of  mine,"  mentioning  his 
name,  "also  died  there."  Both  deaths  had 
occurred  just  before  I  occupied  the  bed.  And 
what  is  still  more  remarkable  the  same  day  in 
which  we  left  our  second  mate,  Mr.  Carnes,  came 
ashore  sick  with  the  fever,  took  my  bed  and  died 
within  a  few  days.  I  left  the  captain  ashore  to 
attend  to  some  trifling  business,  and  when  he 
came  aboard  he  brought  compliments  from  sev- 
eral friends,  congratulating  me  upon  the  preser- 
vation of  my  life,  so  entirely  unlocked  for.  This 


36  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

I  attributed  to  my  strictly  following  the  directions 
of  a  most  excellent  physician  whom  I  consulted 
immediately  after  my  arrival  in  Batavia,  and  upon 
my  always  keeping  up  good  spirits. 

I  had  forgotten  to  mention  an  incident  that 
occurred  on  our  passage  from  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  to  Batavia.  When  one  or  two  degrees 
south  of  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  we  found  sharks 
very  abundant.  I  caught  one  with  a  common  cod 
hook  and  line,  drew  him  along  side  of  the  vessel, 
and  then  threw  a  rope  with  a  noose  over  him. 
Then  with  the  help  of  a  tackle  all  hands  succeeded 
in  getting  him  aboard.  He  was  from  nine  to 
eleven  feet  long  and  weighed,  we  estimated,  eight 
or  nine  hundred  pounds.  Upon  opening  him  we 
took  from  his  stomach  the  back  shell  of  a  turtle, 
which  must  have  weighed  thirty  pounds.  We  cut 
off  the  head  and  cleaned  the  jaw,  in  which  were 
seven  long  rows  of  teeth,  I  think  about  thirty  in 
a  row,  and  large  enough  to  admit  a  man's  head 
and  shoulders.  Considering  it  a  great  curiosity, 
I  brought  it  home  and  deposited  it  in  the  East 
India  Museum.  We  caught  several  other  sharks 
in  these  straits,  of  a  smaller  size,  from  one  of 
which  we  took  a  turtle  weighing  perhaps  twelve 
or  fifteen  pounds,  in  so  perfect  a  state  that  the 
sailors  would  have  eaten  it  had  we  allowed  it. 

But  to  resume  our  narrative.  We  returned 
through  the  Straits  of  Sunda  and  in  passing 
Anjer  were  boarded  by  a  boat  with  supplies  of 
fruit  and  other  needful  articles.  As  we  passed 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  37 

the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  we  put  into  Table  Bay 
to  get  bread  and  other  supplies,  which  we  found 
there  in  great  abundance.  We  remained  at  Table 
Bay  about  a  week  and  then  sailed  for  home. 
Nothing  worthy  of  note  occurred  until  we  arrived 
within  a  few  days  of  home,  when  we  spoke  a 
vessel  and  were  informed  that  war  had  broken  out 
between  America  and  France,  and  that  the  French 
were  capturing  our  vessels  wherever  they  could 
find  them.  This  intelligence  made  us  feel  very 
uneasy.  Within  a  few  days  of  this,  very  early 
one  morning,  we  saw  a  vessel  which  we  took  to 
be  a  French  Privateer.  Fortunately  our  vessel 
appeared  to  be  well  armed  which  made  them 
cautious,  and  after  maneuvering  about  us  for 
some  hours,  we  showed  that  we  were  prepared 
to  fire  into  them,  they  hauled  down  their  sails  and 
allowed  us  to  pass.  They  were  only  one  or  two 
hundred  yards  from  us  and  could  have  taken  us 
without  difficulty  in  five  minutes.  Without  fur- 
ther adventure  of  note,  we  arrived  in  Salem 
between  the  1st  and  10th  of  August,  1797.  This, 
my  second  voyage  was  a  pleasant  one,  and  Capt. 
Swett  was  a  kind,  good-hearted  man. 

I  remained  at  home  about  a  month  when  I  en- 
gaged a  voyage  as  joint  supercargo  in  the  bark 
Vigilant,  bound  to  the  Isle  of  France,  Daniel 
Hathorne,1  master,  and  a  more  unprincipled,  in- 

i  "Daniel  Hathorne  was  a  shipmaster.  He  died  at  sea 
in  1805,  aged  37  years.  Unmarried." — E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol. 
Ill,  p.  175. 


38  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

temperate  man  I  never  knew,  or  one  more 
uncomfortable  to  get  along  with  and  withal  very 
ignorant  of  business.  This  vessel  was  owned  by 
Capt.  Simon  Forrester.1  We  sailed  on  the  7th  of 
October,  1797,  for  Alexandria,  where  we  took  in  a 
cargo  of  flour  and  tobacco  and  arrived  safely  at 
the  Isle  of  France,  after  a  passage  of  about  one 
hundred  days.  Here  the  market  was  overstocked 
and  we  were  compelled  to  sell  at  great  loss.  We 
took  aboard  a  cargo  of  sugar  and  coffee  and  re- 
turned to  Salem,  arriving  here  about  the  10th  of 
October,  1798,  having  been  absent  a  year.  This 
voyage  was  badly  planned,  and  it  proved  a  losing 
one  to  Capt.  Forrester.  More  than  all,  it  was  a 
most  unpleasant  one,  owing  to  the  captain's  in- 
temperance. On  two  or  three  occasions  he  was 
so  intoxicated  as  to  be  obliged  to  leave  the  vessel 
in  the  charge  of  the  mates.  Before  closing  my 
account  of  this  voyage,  I  would  observe  that 
Louis,  the  port  at  which  we  stopped,  and  the  seat 
of  government  of  the  Isle  of  France,  was  rather 
a  pleasant  place,  small  and  much  frequented  by 
foreigners.  Sugar  was  the  principal  article  of 
produce.  We  visited  Bourbon  Island,  from  one  to 

i  "Simon  Forrester,  a  native  of  Ireland,  came  to  Salem 
in  early  youth  and  became  a  very  active  and  wealthy 
merchant.  He  lived  in  a  house  on  Derby  Street,  opposite 
his  wharf  and  warehouses,  the  wharf  now  named  Central. 
He  died  July  4th,  1817,  aged  seventy-one  years." — Essex 
Institute  Records,  Vol.  IV,  p.  82. 


Gateway  of  the   House   80   Federal   Street,   Salem. 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  39 

two  hundred  miles  distant  from  Louis,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  islands  in  the  world,  with  a  very 
fine  climate.  Coffee  grows  here  abundantly.  It 
is  said  that  there  is  a  volcano  in  the  interior  of 
the  island,  but  we  did  not  see  it,  as  our  vessel 
stopped  here  but  a  day  or  two. 

After  remaining  at  home  about  two  months,  I 
went  in  the  "Sally,"  a  schooner  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  tons  burden,  to  Petersburg,  Va., 
to  get  a  load  of  tobacco  which  was  wanted  by  the 
owners  to  complete  a  cargo  destined  for  the  north 
of  Europe.  The  "Sally"  was  chartered  by  my 
father,  Capt.  Hodges  and  others,  and  commanded 
by  Capt.  Tim  Bryant,1  with  whom  I  was  joint 
supercargo.  We  sailed  the  latter  part  of  Novem- 
ber, arrived  at  Petersburg  about  the  middle  of 
December  and  remained  there  about  ten  days. 
We  purchased  our  cargo  and  got  back  to  Martha's 
Vineyard  the  1st  of  January,  1799.  Being  in  a 
hurry  to  get  home,  I  left  the  vessel  here  and 
crossed  the  Sound  to  Falmouth,  where  I  took  a 
horse  to  Salem,  a  hundred  miles  distant.  The 
winter  of  1799  was  a  very  severe  one,  the  coldest 
that  had  been  known  for  many  years.  When  I 
left  Falmouth  it  was  very  cold,  the  thermometer 
was  but  little  above  zero.  After  traveling  a  few 
miles,  I  entered,  about  sunset,  a  piece  of  woods 

i  Capt.  Timothy  Bryant,  a  well-known  Salem  shipmaster, 
was  born  in  Cambridge  in  1765,  died  in  Salem  in  1838.  He 
married  Miss  Lydia  Brookhouse  in  Salem  in  1786. 


40  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

about  six  miles  long.  It  soon  commenced  snow- 
ing, the  night  was  very  dark,  and  I  had  nothing 
for  a  guide.  When  about  half  way  through  the 
woods  I  came  to  where  three  roads  met.  Which 
road  to  take  I  knew  not,  so  I  left  the  horse  to  take 
his  own  course  and,  as  he  had  often  traveled  the 
road,  he  kept  on  in  the  right  path  and  at  length 
brought  me  into  Sandwich.  Here,  assuming  the 
direction,  I  went  a  mile  out  of  my  way,  as  I  found 
upon  inquiring  at  a  house,  so  I  left  the  horse  again 
to  himself  and  he  carried  me  to  my  place  of 
destination,  to  the  very  house  where  I  wished  to 
stop.  I  was  so  chilled  that  I  found  it  difficult  to 
alight  from  my  horse.  The  inmates  of  the  house 
were  Friends,  and  they  received  me  in  a  most 
friendly  manner.  They  provided  me  with  a  good 
fire  and  an  excellent  supper,  and  after  getting  well 
warmed  I  retired  to  bed.  The  next  morning  I 
persisted  in  resuming  my  journey,  although  the 
thermometer  was  ten  or  twelve  degrees  below 
zero.  The  snow  had  fallen  three  feet  on  a  level 
and  had  covered  up  the  stone  walls  most  of  the 
way.  I  arrived  in  Boston  that  evening.  Capt. 
Bryant  came  around  in  the  schooner  and  got  here 
about  a  week  after  I  did. 

Having  loaded  the  ship  "Betsy,"  a  ship  of  about 
two  hundred  tons  burden,  we  sailed  from  Salem 
on  the  4th  of  February,  1799,  for  Copenhagen  and 
St.  Petersburg,  with  a  cargo  of  sugar,  coffee  and 
tobacco.  The  charge  of  the  business  was  prin- 
cipally entrusted  to  me.  We  had  a  very  pleasant 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  41 

pasage  for  the  season.  Early  in  March  the 
weather  was  so  warm  that  our  men  went  about 
the  deck  barefoot.  An  unfavorable  wind  obliged 
us  to  put  into  a  small  port  in  Norway.  Here  I 
hired  three  men  to  take  me  in  a  boat  to  North 
Bergen,  a  distance  of  seventy  miles.  North  Ber- 
gen is  the  principal  city  of  Norway.  I  remained 
there  only  a  day  or  two  and  then  returned  to  the 
ship.  The  weather,  which  had  been  so  warm  that 
I  hardly  needed  a  great  coat,  became  the  day  after 
my  return  extremely  cold  and  we  found  it  difficult 
to  keep  warm  on  board  with  the  largest  fires  that 
we  could  make,  and  in  the  North  Sea  the  cold  was 
so  intense  that  vessels  there  were  almost  unman- 
ageable. We  went  from  one  port  to  another  in 
Norway,  as  the  wind  would  permit,  and  at  length 
reached  an  outpost  near  Mandal,  where  we  found 
a  Salem  ship,  whose  commander,  Capt.  Moseley,1 

i  "Captain  Joseph  Moseley,  born  about  1760  at  Niscontin, 
North  Carolina,  a  town  which  lies  near  the  Virginia  border. 
He  was  skillful  and  faithful  in  his  profession,  so  that  his 
services  were  sought  by  some  of  the  largest  merchants 
of  the  time.  He  was  for  several  years  in  the  employ  of 
William  Gray,  Jr.  In  1795  he  commanded  the  schooner 
'Active,'  belonging  to  Ichabod  Nichols  and  Benjamin 
Hodges,  on  a  voyage  to  St.  Petersburg. 

"His  last  voyage  was  in  the  ship  'Enterprise,'  in  1799. 
In  March  of  that  year  he  was  hailed  by  a  privateer  which 
showed  Dutch  colors.  Having  mounted  an  elevation  on 
the  deck,  he  stood,  with  the  trumpet  at  his  mouth  to  return 
an  answer,  when  a  shot  from  the  privateer  shattered  the 
trumpet  and  struck  him  in  the  head.  Falling  back,  he 
gasped  out  the  words,  'I  am  a  dead  man,'  and  expired  in 
the  arms  of  his  men.  When  the  other  captain  came  on 
board  and  discovered  the  innocent  character  of  the  vessel, 
his  regret  was  excessive,  especially  when  he  discovered 


42  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

had  recently  been  killed  by  a  Dutch  Privateer. 
His  body  was  brought  to  Mandal  to  be  buried. 
From  Mandal  we  went  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Christiansund,  a  place  of  considerable  business. 
Knowing  that  there  were  several  French  Priva- 
teers in  the  neigborhood,  we  took  a  careful  survey 
from  the  Highlands  before  venturing  out  to  sea. 
We  were  just  on  the  point  of  sailing  when  Capt. 
Bryant  saw  a  privateer  coming  out  of  Christian- 
sund. A  consultation  was  held  and  we  decided  to 
remain  where  we  were.  The  following  morning 
we  saw  a  large  fleet  of  English  merchant  vessels 
under  convoy  of  two  or  three  ships  of  war.  We 
soon  got  under  way  and  joined  them.  Among 
them  was  the  French  privateer  that  we  had  seen 
the  day  before  hovering  about  Christiansund,  in 
pursuit  of  our  vessel  and  two  other  Salem  vessels. 
Nothing  worthy  of  note  occurred  on  our  way 
to  Elsinore,  which  place  we  reached  about  the 
middle  of  May.  We  saw  quantities  of  drift  ice, 
but  fortunately  sustained  no  injury  from  it.  On 
the  18th  of  May  we  arrived  at  Copenhagen,  where 
the  captain  and  I  went  ashore  and  took  lodgings 
at  a  boarding  house.  At  the  dinner  table  on  the 
first  day  a  gentleman  sat  next  to  me  who  proved 
to  be  the  captain  of  the  above  named  French 
privateer.  I  entered  into  conversation  with  him 

that  Captain  Moseley  was  an  old  acquaintance  and  one 
who  had  been  in  port  with  him.  His  only  excuse  was  that 
he  thought  the  vessel  was  an  Englishman  under  American 
colors."— E.  S.  Waters,  E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  259 
and  260. 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  43 

and  asked  him  if  he  had  captured  many  Amer- 
icans. He  made  no  reply,  but  appeared  quite 
disturbed  by  the  question.  We  were  in  this  city 
ten  or  twelve  days,  and  having  landed  our  cargo, 
sailed  for  Cronstadt,  where  we  arrived  in  about 
a  week.  Paul  was  then  the  Emperor  of  Russia. 
He  was  a  very  tyrannical  man  and  his  regulations 
as  respects  foreigners  were  extremely  severe. 
None  but  captains  of  vessels  were  allowed  pass- 
ports to  go  to  St.  Petersburg,  consequently  I,  as 
supercargo,  could  not  obtain  one.  But  Capt. 
Bryant,  determined  that  I  should  go,  went  up  with 
his  first,  and  then  sent  it  down  to  me.  I  did  not 
hesitate  to  use  it,  though  a  detection  of  the  fraud 
would  have  cost  me  a  banishment  to  Siberia. 
Upon  landing  we  encountered  two  or  three  police 
officers  who  we  suspected  were  intending  to 
arrest  us  because  we  had  not  on  the  court  dress 
or  a  very  important  part  of  it, — the  cocked  hat. 
This  dress  consisted,  besides  the  cocked  hat,  of 
a  single  breasted  coat  and  vest,  a  stock  instead  of 
a  cravat,  buckled  behind,  and  Suwarrow  boots, 
and  the  hair  must  be  brushed  up  in  front.  Find- 
ing that  we  were  pursued  by  these  officers  we 
walked  rapidly  to  the  first  boarding  house  and 
immediately  sent  out  for  a  lot  of  hats  with  which 
we  equipped  ourselves.  Mr.  William  Silsbee,1 


i  "William  Silsbee  was  the  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Sarah 
Beckett  Silsbee  and  brother  of  the  late  Hon.  Nathaniel 
Silsbee.  He  went  to  sea,  became  a  shipmaster,  and  later 
a  merchant. 


44  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

who  was  one  of  the  party,  and  I  chose  the  largest 
we  could  find,  though  we  were  both  very  thin. 
After  a  week's  stay  in  this  city,  we  returned  to 
Cronstadt,  where  I  contrived  to  get  a  passport, 
which  would  have  carried  me  all  over  the  Empire. 
This  passport  I  afterwards  showed  to  Mr. 
Vernon,1  with  whom  I  boarded  in  St.  Petersburg, 
and  whose  wife  was  a  sister  of  Mr.  T.  Sanders,2 
of  Salem.  Upon  looking  at  it  he  appeared  very 
much  astonished,  and  observed  that  the  penalty 
of  furnishing  me  with  such  a  passport  was  a  very 
severe  one,  nothing  less  than  banishment  to 
Siberia. 

Having  purchased  a  return  cargo  of  hemp,  iron 
and  manufactures,  I  returned  to  the  ship  and  we 
sailed  for  Copenhagen  about  the  middle  of  June. 
Our  passage  of  a  week  was  a  very  pleasant  one. 

"His  wife  was  Mary,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Hannah 
King  Hodges,  and  his  sons  were  Rev.  William,  John  Henry 
and  Benjamin  Hodges  Silsbee." — E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  V, 
p.  247. 

1  "Mr.  Augustus  Vernon,  a  merchant  of  St.  Petersburg, 
Russia,  married  Sarah,  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Thomas  Sanders 
of   Gloucester,   and   a   sister   of   Mr.   Thomas    Sanders   of 
Salem." — Babson's  Hist,  of  Gloucester,  2nd  Series,  p.  76. 

2  "Mr.  Thos.   Sanders  was  one  of  a  family  of  twelve 
children.     His  father,  Hon.  Thomas  Sanders,  was  one  of 
the  prominent  men  in  Gloucester,  where  the  family  had 
lived  since  1702. 

"Mr.  Sanders  was  born  in  1759,  settled  in  Salem  and 
died  a  wealthy  citizen  of  that  place  June  5th,  1844.  He 
married  Miss  Elizabeth  Elkins,  who  survived  him  with 
two  sons  and  three  daughters." — Babson's  Hist,  of  Glouces- 
ter, 2nd  Series,  p.  76. 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  45 

We  stopped  at  Copenhagen  a  day  or  two  and 
then  went  to  Elsinore,  where  we  found  a  dozen 
or  more  American  vessels  and  several  English 
vessels.  We  agreed  to  sail  in  company,  and 
proceeded  down  the  Cattegat  under  convoy  of  a 
British  man-of-war.  When  nearly  through  the 
straits  a  head  wind  obliged  us  to  put  into  a  port 
in  Norway.  After  lying  there  some  days,  as  the 
British  manifested  no  disposition  to  proceed,  the 
Americans  became  impatient.  I  called  a  meeting 
of  the  masters  of  the  vessels  to  consider  what  it 
was  best  to  do.  I  was  permitted  to  meet  with 
them,  though  not  the  master  of  a  vessel.  Capt. 
Clemens,  who  had  taken  particular  pains  to  sup- 
ply his  ship  with  arms  and  ammunition,  was  very 
desirous  to  proceed.  He  maintained  that  we 
could  defend  ourselves  without  the  aid  of  the 
British  against  any  enemy  that  might  appear  in 
these  seas,  and  about  one-half  of  the  captains 
were  of  the  same  opinion.  Capt.  George  Hodges,1 

i  Capt.  George  Hodges,  born  in  Salem,  July  18th,  1765, 
died  July  28,  1827. 

"A  sea  captain  and  merchant.  He  was  a  very  large 
man.  A  farmer  coming  into  town  with  produce  for  him 
inquired  for  his  residence  in  these  words;  'I  don't  want 
the  Mr.  Hodges  who  is  as  high  as  you  can  see,'  (meaning 
his  brother,  Gamaliel  Hodges),  'but  the  one  who  is  as  big 
round  as  you  can  see.' 

"During  President  Jefferson's  administration  he  was 
surveyor  of  customs  for  Salem  and  Beverly,  which  office 
he  resigned  in  1820.  During  the  Revolution  he  was  active 
in  upholding  the  cause  of  his  country,  and  in  1780  he  com- 
manded the  'Pallas,'  a  10-gun  vessel,  which  was  built  and 
fitted  out  in  Massachusetts." — From  "Hodges  Family  of 
New  England,"  by  Almon  D.  Hodges,  Jr.,  p.  44. 


46  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

who  was  then  in  command  of  a  vessel,  one-half 
of  which  was  owned  by  my  father,  asked  me  to 
express  my  opinion,  but  this  I  declined  doing,  not 
being  a  master.  However,  when  urged  strongly 
to  do  it  on  the  ground  that  I  was  perhaps  more 
interested  than  any  person  present,  as  my  father 
was  largely  concerned  in  two  of  the  vessels,  I 
frankly  told  them  that  we  had  lost  ten  days  to 
keep  under  the  protection  of  the  British,  and  that 
I  saw  no  reason  now  for  leaving  them,  and  that  we 
were  as  great  a  protection  to  Capt.  Clemens  as  he 
was  to  us  with  all  his  guns.  The  vote  was  now 
taken  and  they  decided  to  remain  with  the  British. 
The  wind  soon  becoming  favorable  we  resumed 
our  voyage,  but  we  kept  company  with  the  British 
only  three  or  four  days,  as  they  were  bound  for 
England  and  we  for  America.  We  Americans 
resolved  to  keep  together  as  long  as  possible. 
Soon  after  leaving  the  British  we  saw  one  morn- 
ing in  July  a  French  privateer  steering  directly 
towards  us.  Our  vessel,  being  a  fast  sailor,  was 
in  advance  of  the  others,  and  was  the  only  one 
which  looked  like  a  man  of  war,  having  a  tier  of 
sixteen  guns,  all  wooden.  We  hoisted  a  flag,  and 
made  the  usual  preparations  for  action,  firing  off 
a  swivel,  a  small  gun  which  we  had  borrowed 
from  an  American  vessel  in  Norway.  Seeing  this, 
the  privateer  made  sail,  and  soon  disappeared 
from  view.  The  commodore,  Capt.  Clemens, 
meantime  remained  quite  in  the  background,  thus 
proving  the  truth  of  what  I  said  in  Norway,  that 


EARLY  SEAFARING  DAYS  47 

we  were  as  great  a  protection  to  him  as  he  was  to 
us.  We  proceeded  on  our  passage  together 
through  the  North  Sea,  when  each  vessel  made 
the  best  of  her  way  home.  We  arrived  about  the 
middle  of  September,  1799.  This,  my  fourth 
foreign  voyage,  proved  a  good  one,  and  was  the 
pleasantest  I  had  yet  made. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MASTER  AND  SUPERCARGO 

After  remaining  at  home  two  or  three  months, 
I  sailed  again  as  joint  supercargo  with  Capt. 
Bryant,  December,  1799.  Our  ship,  the  "Active,"1 
was  a  new  vessel  owned  and  built  by  my  father, 
Capt.  Hodges  and  others,  and  was  bound  for 
Bombay  for  a  cargo  of  cotton.  We  carried  prin- 
cipally specie  from  $15,000  to  $16,000.  Nothing 
of  importance  occurred  during  our  passage,  which 
was  a  very  pleasant  one  of  three  and  a  half 
months.  We  arrived  out  about  the  last  of  March 
or  the  first  of  April,  1800.  Bombay  is  a  very 
pleasant  island,  and  the  city  was  a  convenient, 
healthy  city.  The  business  was  carried  on  by 
Parsees,  some  of  the  most  intelligent  people  I 

i  "Ship  'Active,'  206  tons  burthen,  built  in  Salem  in  1799, 
later  altered  to  a  bark  and  then  to  a  brig.  It  was  owned 
by  Ichabod  Nichols,  Benjamin  Hodges,  Gamaliel  Hodges 
and  Edward  Allen.  In  1803  George  Nichols  was  also  one 
of  the  joint  owners,  Edward  Allen  having  withdrawn.  In 
1804  Benjamin  Peirce  and  Timothy  Bryant  had  an  interest 
in  the  vessel  with  Ichabod  Nichols,  Benjamin  Hodges  and 
George  Nichols.  This  is  the  last  date  of  the  above  named 
owners;  later  the  ship  passed  into  other  hands." — Ship 
Register,  p.  3. 

Dr.  Bentley  has  the  following  note  in  his  diary  August 
3rd,  1799:  "Becket  launched  a  ship  ('Active')  for  Hodges 
&  Nichols  at  noon  this  day." — Ed. 

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MASTER  AND  SUPERCARGO  49 

have  ever  known,  rich  and  very  honorable  in  their 
dealings.  The  merchant  with  whom  I  did  bus- 
iness, Nasser  Vanji  Monackjce1  was  a  very  fine 
man.  We  were  at  Bombay  about  six  weeks, 
during  which  time  we  sold  what  small  stock  we 
had  at  a  very  handsome  profit,  purchased  a  return 
cargo,  principally  of  cotton,  and  then  sailed  for 
home.  Our  passage  home  was  about  as  long  as 
the  passage  out,  and  like  that,  void  of  incident 
worthy  of  note. 

Having  landed  we  reloaded  the  principal  part 
of  the  cotton  for  the  English  market.  I  was 
appointed  master  and  supercargo  of  the  same 
vessel  in  which  I  had  made  my  previous  voyage, 
the  "Active."  I  was  then  a  little  more  than 
twenty-two  years  of  age.  I  sailed  about  the  first 
of  September  for  Liverpool,  and  arrived  there 
after  a  most  stormy  passage  of  about  twenty-five 
days.  We  found  on  arriving  that  our  cotton 
could  not  be  landed  there,  and  accordingly  we 
proceeded  to  take  it  to  London.  We  were  de- 
tained in  Liverpool  about  twenty  days  by  severe 
storms,  and  ours  was  the  only  vessel  out  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  sail  that  escaped  without 
damage. 

Here  I  must  go  back  to  relate  an  incident  that 
occurred  five  days  after  leaving  Salem.  Perceiv- 
ing signs  of  an  approaching  gale,  I  desired  the 
mate  to  put  the  ship  in  a  situation  to  meet  it,  upon 

i  There  is  a  life  size  figure  of  Nasser  Vanji  in  the 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science. — Ed. 


50  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

which  he  immediately  gave  orders  for  all  hands 
to  come  on  deck  and  take  in  sail,  etc.  Mr. 
Sinclair,1  our  third  mate,  was  at  the  time  below 
with  a  lighted  candle  in  a  candlestick.  In  his 
haste  to  be  first  on  deck  he  very  imprudently  left 
the  burning  candle  on  the  till  of  his  chest.  Walk- 
ing the  quarterdeck  soon  after  I  saw  a  column  of 
smoke  coming  from  the  cabin.  I  hurried  down 
and  ordered  water  to  be  handed  to  me.  Every- 
thing in  Mr.  Sinclair's  chest  was  on  fire,  but  I 
filled  the  chest  with  water  and  soon  extinguished 
the  flames.  There  was  a  keg  of  from  two  to 
three  hundred  pounds  of  powder  within  three  feet 
of  the  fire,  and  had  it  spread  at  all  we  must  have 
inevitably  been  blown  up.  Everything  conspired 
to  make  our  situation  a  truly  alarming  one.  Our 
cabin  was  nearly  filled  with  combustible  articles. 
The  wind  blew  very  fresh,  but  continued  to  in- 
crease in  violence  throughout  the  night  and  most 


i  "John  Sinclair  was  born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  son  of  John 
and  Elizabeth  Ropes  Sinclair.  He  commanded  the  Private 
armed  schooner  'Revenge'  in  the  fall  of  1812,  was  captured 
in  December  and  carried  to  Halifax,  from  which  place  he 
was  liberated  just  in  time  to  pass  the  'Chesapeake'  as  it 
was  being  taken  into  Halifax  by  the  British  captor 
'Shannon.'  The  following  month  he  was  one  of  the  thir- 
teen captains  who  manned  the  vessel  provided  by  Captain 
Crowninshield  to  bring  back  the  remains  of  Captains 
Lawrence  and  Ludlow  to  the  United  States. 

"He  afterwards  sailed  with  Capt.  Shaw,  and  the  'Ports- 
mouth,' from  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  was  transferred  to  his 
command  on  Nov.  7th,  1814.  After  sending  in  some 
valuable  prizes,  the  vessel  was  lost,  probably  in  a  storm, 
but  not  impossibly  taken  by  Algerines." — Eliza  Sinclair 
Blunt,  from  notes  on  her  grandfather,  John  Sinclair. 


MASTER  AND  SUPERCARGO  51 

of  the  following  day.  All  on  board  agreed  that  it 
was  the  most  terrific  storm  they  had  ever  en- 
countered. 

To  return  to  my  story.  I  took  a  coasting  pilot 
at  Liverpool  to  carry  me  around  to  London. 
Nothing  of  note  occurred  until  we  arrived  off 
Dover.  It  was  evening  and  I  set  up  a  light  and 
fired  off  guns  for  a  pilot  to  carry  me  up  the  river. 
A  British  man  of  war  was  in  the  river,  and  mis- 
taking us  for  smugglers,  sent  a  boat  alongside 
with  three  officers  and  from  twenty  to  thirty  men. 
I  soon  found  that  the  former  were  quite  intoxi- 
cated. Boarding  our  vessel,  the  commanding 
officer  in  a  very  insolent  tone  said  to  me,  "What 
ship  is  this?"  "The  'Active'  from  Salem." 
"How  long  has  that  been  her  name?"  In  the 
same  tone  I  replied,  "We  never  have  but  one  name 
for  our  vessels.  I  am  from  Liverpool,  bound  to 
London.  I  have  just  signalled  for  a  pilot."  The 
British  officer,  second  in  command,  was  so  much 
intoxicated  that  he  would  have  fallen  overboard 
but  for  my  mate,  Mr.  Peele.  I  had  by  this  time 
become  so  much  excited  that  I  reprimanded  Mr. 
Peele  for  rescuing  him,  which  the  first  officer 
hearing,  "None  of  your  insolence,  sir."  "I'll 
order  the  Lion  Cutter  and  cut  you  up  and  sink 
you."  "Curse  you  and  your  Lion  Cutter,  too!  If 
I  had  a  few  more  guns,  you  would  not  dare  use 
such  language  to  me."  "What  would  you  do?" 
"I  would  send  you  to  hell,  where  you  belong. 
Send  me  into  port  if  you  dare,  and  I'll  call  upon 


52  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

your  master  and  know  if  he  allows  such  lang- 
uage." This  determined  manner  calmed  him  at 
once.  Wishing  to  examine  my  papers  the  two 
officers  went  below  with  a  purser.  I  took  them 
from  a  tin  canister  and  threw  them  on  the  table. 
The  purser  was  desired  to  examine  them.  He 
took  up  the  Sea  letter,  but  was  so  intoxicated  that 
he  could  hardly  hold  it.  He  commenced  reading, 
"Bart — Bart — Bart."  Thoroughly  aroused,  I 
cried  out,  "Bart  Putnam."1 

"Oh,  that  will  do,"  said  he,  and  threw  down  the 
letter.  Receiving  soon  after  a  river  pilot,  we  were 
conducted  up  the  Thames  and  arrived  in  London 
the  following  day.  I  gave  my  business  into  the 
charge  of  Thomas  Dickerson  &  Co.,  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  respectable  houses  in  London, 
and  delivered  my  cargo  to  the  East  India  Company 
to  be  sold.  We  realized  a  monstrous  profit  from 
the  sale  of  it,  more  than  three  hundred  per  cent  on 
the  first  cost  in  Bombay.  I  then  purchased  a  part 
of  a  cargo  for  Calcutta,  which  I  put  aboard,  to- 
gether with  specie,  amounting  to  nearly  $40,000. 2 

1  "Bartholomew  Putnam,  son  of  Bartholomew  and  Ruth 
Gardner  Putnam,  born  Feb.  2nd,  1757,  died  April  17,  1815. 
He  was  surveyor  of  the  port  and  lived  in  the  house  that 
stood  where  the  East  Church  (Second  Unitarian)  now  is. 
His  wife  was  Sarah,  daughter  of  Gamaliel  Hodges." — B.  F. 
Browne,  E.  I.  Coll.,  Vol.  IV,  p.  138. 

2  The  day  before  leaving  London  Mr.  Gill,  the  out-door 
clerk  of  Dickerson  &  Co.,  called  upon  me,  and  requested 
me  to  pay  ten  guineas  for  services  rendered  at  the  Custom 
House.    Suspecting  it  to  be  an  imposition,  I  said  to  him, 
"Give  me  your  bill,  and  I  will  give  you,  according  to  cus- 


MASTER  AND  SUPERCARGO  53 

I  remained  in  London  about  four  weeks;  was 
pleased  with  the  city.  Went  one  evening  to  the 
Covent  Garden  Theatre,  where  I  saw  the  Royal 
family — George  the  Third,  his  wife  and  two  or 
three  daughters;  one  of  whom,  Princess  Eliza- 
beth, was  very  handsome,  reminding  me  very 
much  of  Dolly  Treadwell.1  I  was  very  much 

torn,  an  order  upon  your  house."  "No,"  he  replied,  "I 
cannot  do  that,  but  you  can  put  your  hand  in  your  pocket 
and  take  out  the  money.  Capt.  Olney,  of  a  Providence 
ship,  gave  me  that  sum  a  few  days  since  for  a  similar 
service."  "I  can't  help  that,"  said  I.  "Oh,  then  give  me 
five  guineas."  "No,"  I  replied.  "Then  give  me  three 
guineas."  "Not  one,"  said  I.  "My  order  is  as  good  for 
one  hundred  guineas  as  for  one."  He  appeared  very  much 
excited.  "Then  you  are  no  gentleman."  "I  will  soon  see 
whether  I  am  a  gentleman  or  no,"  said  I.  The  next  morn- 
ing, I  called  at  the  counting  room  of  Dickerson  &  Co., 
where  I  saw  the  senior  partner,  a  stately  old  gentleman 
towards  seventy  years  of  age,  and  also,  the  active  partner, 
whose  name  was  Burgess.  Addressing  the  latter,  I  said 
to  him,  "Is  it  customary  for  persons  doing  business  at 
your  house  to  pay  your  clerks  for  services  rendered?"  He 
appeared  very  much  surprised,  and  said  in  a  stern  voice, 
"I  don't  understand  you."  I  then  repeated  my  question, 
and  related  the  interview  that  I  had  with  his  clerk  the 
preceding  day.  "I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  Capt. 
Nichols,"  said  he,  "for  your  information.  We  pay  Mr. 
Gill  sixty  guineas  a  year  for  attending  to  that  particular 
business."  When  I  again  visited  London  about  twenty 
months  after  this,  I  was  told  that  Mr.  Gill  was  immediately 
dismissed  by  Dickerson  &  Co.,  and  that  Capt.  Olney  was 
refunded  his  ten  guineas. 

i  "Dolly  Treadwell,  or  Dorothy,  was  the  wife  of  Dr.  John 
Dexter  Treadwell.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Jonathan  and 
Dorothy  Ashton  Goodhue,  and  was  born  in  February,  1777, 
died  January  29,  1858. 

She  had  one  son,  John  Goodhue  Treadwell,  born  August 
1st,  1805,  a  very  successful  doctor  in  Salem.  He  died  the 
5th  of  August,  1856,  unmarried."— E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  IV, 
p.  278. 


54  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

gratified  with  the  performance,  the  "Merchant  of 
Venice,"  by  Cooke,1  one  of  the  greatest  actors 
then  living.  He  took  the  character  of  Shylock. 
No  one  person  appeared  to  enjoy  it  more  than  the 
old  king. 

Having  completed  my  preparations  for  con- 
tinuing my  voyage,  I  sent  the  vessel  down  the 
river.  I  joined  her  at  Gravesend,  about  thirty 
miles  below  London.  The  wind  being  ahead,  we 
put  into  Ramsgate,  where  we  lay  wind-bound  fif- 
teen or  sixteen  days.  This  is  a  small  town  with 
a  harbor  built  into  the  sea  for  the  protection  of 
vessels.  When  the  wind  became  fair,  we  pro- 
ceeded on  our  voyage,  with  the  purpose  of 
stopping  at  Madeira  for  wine.  We  arrived  there 
without  accident  after  a  passage  of  about 
eighteen  or  twenty  days.  Madeira  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  islands  you  can  imagine.  The 
scenery  is  beautiful,  and  the  climate  is  remark- 
ably healthy.  The  principal  production  is  wine 
of  a  superior  quality.  We  were  on  the  island 

i  "George  Frederic  Cooke,  an  English  actor  of  great 
prominence,  born  in  Westminster,  April  17,  1756.  He  early 
showed  a  taste  for  the  stage,  and  made  such  rapid  strides 
in  his  profession  that  in  1794  he  was  engaged  by  the 
managers  of  the  Dublin  Theatre.  The  following  year  he 
returned  to  England. 

On  Oct.  31st,  1800,  he  made  his  appearance  at  Covent 
Garden,  London,  in  the  character  of  Richard  III.  His  rep- 
utation was  at  once  established  as  an  actor  of  the  first 
class. 

Later  he  came  to  the  United  States,  where  he  had  formed 
a  theatrical  engagement. 

He  died  in  this  country  March  25th,  1812." — Encyclopedia 
Americana. 


MASTER  AND  SUPERCARGO  55 

about  a  week,  during  which  time  we  took  in  a 
part  of  a  cargo  of  wine.  In  clearing  from  the 
island,  we  met  with  some  trouble  which  had  liked 
to  have  proved  very  serious  to  vessel  and  crew. 
Their  regulations  forbid  all  vessels  leaving  port 
after  dark.  Supposing  that  the  clearing  officer 
had  informed  the  government  of  our  wish  to  leave 
at  that  time,  we  got  under  way;  when  they  imme- 
diately commenced  firing  upon  us  from  the  port. 
Each  shot  came  nearer  than  the  last,  and  at  last 
were  so  near  as  to  throw  the  water  into  the  ship. 
Fearing  that  the  next  shot  would  sink  the  vessel, 
I  hoisted  a  light,  and  prepared  to  go  ashore. 
Seeing  this,  they  ceased  firing.  The  people 
ashore,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  supposed  that 
they  meant  to  sink  our  vessel.  I  remained  on  shore 
that  night,  and  in  the  morning,  accompanied  by 
the  American  Consul,  I  went  to  the  proper  officers 
and  obtained  permission  to  leave  the  island,  which 
I  did  immediately,  and  before  noon  reached  the 
ship,  and  we  proceeded  on  our  voyage. 

Nothing  of  note  occured  until  our  arrival  at  St. 
Paul.  The  wind  being  light,  we  approached  the 
island  very  slowly.  Towards  noon,  supposing  we 
were  about  eight  or  ten  miles  from  it,  I  left  in  a 
boat  with  four  men  for  the  purpose  of  fishing, 
and  gave  particular  directions  to  my  mate,  Mr. 
Peele,  not  to  lose  sight  of  my  boat  for  a  moment. 
I  took  my  musket  with  me,  and  told  Mr.  Peele 
that  I  should  fire  it  off  if  I  wished  him  to  stand 
in  nearer  the  island.  After  rowing  about  an  hour 


56  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

I  found  myself  farther  from  shore  than  I  had  sup- 
posed and  accordingly  fired  off  my  gun,  not 
doubting  that  Mr.  Peele  would  comply  with  my 
instructions.  As  we  drew  near  to  the  island  we 
found  fish  so  abundant  that  in  less  than  twenty 
minutes  we  filled  our  boat  with  them.  Suddenly 
one  of  the  sailors  looking  around  said  to  me, 
"Captain,  there  is  a  squall  arising  and  they  are 
reefing  the  topsails."  I  immediately  gave  orders 
to  row  for  the  ship  as  fast  as  possible.  She  was 
then  three  or  four  miles  off,  and  appeared  to  be 
going  from  us.  The  squall  was  rising  rapidly,  my 
men  were  very  much  alarmed,  and  I,  too,  felt 
extremely  anxious,  but  thought  it  very  important 
to  control  my  anxiety.  So  I  said  to  the  men  in  a 
tone  as  encouraging  as  possible,  "Pull  away,  my 
men;  'tis  a  pity  to  lose  all  these  fine  fish."  All 
our  efforts  to  reach  the  ship  would  probably  have 
been  fruitless,  but  one  of  her  men  fortunately 
went  aloft  and  saw  our  boat  at  a  distance.  They 
immediately  made  all  sail  towards  us,  and  had  no 
sooner  got  alongside  than  the  squall  struck  us. 
Had  it  come  five  minutes  sooner  we  must  all  have 
been  lost.  As  it  was,  we  were  not  only  spared" 
ourselves,  but  we  were  able  to  save  our  fish,  to 
get  which  we  had  unintentionally  encountered 
such  a  risk.  We  were  received  on  board  as  per- 
sons from  the  dead,  for  they  had  seen  nothing  of 
the  boat  for  several  hours,  and  so  strong  was  Mr. 
Peele's  feeling  that  we  were  all  lost,  that  he  had 


MASTER  AND  SUPERCARGO  57 

made  all  his  plans  to  proceed  with  the  vessel  to 
Calcutta. 

Proceeding  on  the  voyage  we  arrived  at  Colom- 
bo, in  the  Island  of  Ceylon,  in  about  twenty  days. 
We  remained  there  two  or  three  days  to  get 
information,  and  then  left,  proposing  to  stop  at 
two  or  three  points  on  the  Coromandel  coast. 
We  went  first  to  Pondicherry,  formerly  possessed 
by  the  French,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  English, 
and  considered  one  of  the  finest  European  cities 
in  India.  As  I  could  do  nothing  there,  I  soon  left 
for  Madras,  the  principal  business  city  on  the 
coast.  Here  I  sold  my  cargo  very  advantageously 
through  the  house  of  Lyss,  Saturi  &  Demonte. 
The  latter  gentleman  was  a  Portuguese,  very 
black,  but  one  of  the  smartest  men  I  ever  knew. 
Lyss  was  an  Englishman  and  Saturi  was  an 
Armenian.  War  had  recently  been  declared 
between  England  and  Denmark.  I  was  the  first 
to  carry  the  news  to  Madras,  and  was  thus  the 
means  of  saving  the  Danes  a  great  deal  of  prop- 
erty, as  they  had  several  fine  vessels  then  lying 
in  port,  all  of  which  would  have  been  taken  in  a 
few  hours  but  for  my  information.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  war  the  business  of  the  place  was 
very  much  disturbed,  and  that  of  the  house  above 
mentioned  was  particularly  so ;  but  from  informa- 
tion that  I  had  received  I  thought  I  could  make  a 
very  good  arrangement  with  that  firm  to  load  my 
vessel,  and  thus  save  myself  the  trouble  of  going 
to  Calcutta.  For  this  purpose  I  met  them  one 


58  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

evening  and  terms  were  proposed  by  them,  which 
I  declined,  thinking  that  I  might  do  better.  At 
ten  o'clock  I  left  them  without  having  effected 
any  arrangement.  I  went  home  to  bed,  but  .not 
to  sleep,  for  I  felt  upon  reflection  that  I  had  made 
a  great  mistake  in  not  accepting  Mr.  Demonte's 
offer,  and  that  I  had  missed  an  opportunity  of 
making  a  fine  voyage,  so  I  thought  I  would  accept 
his  invitation  to  breakfast  with  him,  and  would 
get  the  offer  renewed  if  possible.  Rising  early 
the  next  morning,  I  sent  my  servant  with  a  polite 
note  to  Mr.  Demonte,  telling  him  that  I  would 
meet  him  if  he  would  have  an  early  breakfast. 
Upon  meeting  him,  he  immediately  renewed  his 
proposals,  which  I  told  him  were  impossible. 
Finally  I  wrote  upon  a  slip  of  paper  what  I  told 
him  was  my  ultimatum,  and  asked  him  if  he 
would  accept  it.  He  acceded  to  my  terms,  the 
papers  were  then  signed;  thus  the  business  was 
settled.  This  was  considered  a  very  remarkable 
negotiation,  and  a  very  happy  one  for  me,  as  it 
most  effectually  established  my  reputation.  As  I 
was  then  quite  young,  only  about  twenty-three 
years  of  age,  all  the  owners,  excepting  my  father, 
were  strongly  opposed  to  my  taking  charge  of  the 
vessel.  After  lying  at  Madras  about  three  weeks, 
and  taking  aboard  a  very  valuable  cargo  of 
assorted  goods,  I  sailed  for  home. 

I  arrived  in  Salem,  I  think,  in  September,  1801, 
after  a  passage  of  about  three  and  a  half  months. 
All  my  friends  were  very  much  surprised  to  see 


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MASTER  AND  SUPERCARGO  59 

me,  as  they  had  not  expected  my  arrival  under 
three  months ;  knowing  that  I  had  received  orders 
to  go  to  Calcutta.  Two  of  the  owners,  my  father 
and  Mr.  Gamaliel  Hodges,1  met  me  on  my  landing 
at  Union  Wharf.  The  former  appeared  quite 
agitated,  and  asked  me  where  I  was  from. 
"From  Madras,  sir,"  I  replied.  "From  Madras? 
I  thought  you  had  orders  to  go  to  Calcutta?"  "I 
had,  sir,  but  I  changed  my  course."  "What  cargo 
have  you?"  "A  full  cargo.  But  very  little  for 
you,"  I  replied.  Upon  hearing  this  he  appeared 
still  more  agitated  and  asked,  "What  have  you 
been  doing?"  "Sir,"  said  I,  "I  have  not  made  the 
worst  of  voyages,  and  if  you  will  accompany  me, 
I  will  tell  you  all  about  it."  He  accordingly  went 
with  me  to  the  counting  room.  There  I  took  out 
my  papers  and  handed  him  bills  of  exchange 
amounting  to  $65,000  or  $66,000  on  Messrs.  Sears, 
Dickerson  &  Thorndike,  then  the  richest  firm  in 
Boston. 

"But  will  they  accept  these  bills?"  my  father 
asked. 

i  "Gamaliel  Hodges,  son  of  John  and  Mary  Manning 
Hodges,  born  at  Salem,  Aug.  15,  1766,  died  Dec.  25,  1850. 
Shipmaster  and  merchant.  His  wife  was  Sarah  Williams. 
His  daughter,  Margaret  Manning,  married  Dr.  George 
Choate."— E.  I.  Hist.  Coll. 

"John  Hodges,  the  father  of  Gamaliel,  had  six  sons  who 
grew  to  manhood,  all  of  them  very  tall.  One  of  these 
sons  having  been  taken  prisoner  by  a  French  frigate,  his 
size  was  commented  on.  He  proudly  drew  himself  up  and 
said,  "I  am  the  shortest  of  six  brothers." — Hodges  Family 
of  New  England,  p.  44. 

Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  late  ambassador  to  England,  was 
a  grandson  of  Gamaliel  Hodges.— Ed. 


60  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

I  told  him  I  hoped  not,  at  which  he  expressed 
surprise.  I  then  informed  him  that  I  had  prop- 
erty on  board  the  vessel  more  than  double  the 
amount  of  the  bills  for  my  security,  and  we  could 
get  a  handsome  commission  out  of  them. 

"Is  this  all?"  said  my  father. 

"Oh,  no,  sir,"  and  I  handed  him  a  bill  of  lading 
of  goods  which  cost  me  about  $10,000,  and  would, 
I  thought,  pay  me  a  handsome  profit.  I  then 
showed  to  father  and  Mr.  Hodges  that  it  was 
exceedingly  important  to  keep  this  business  a 
profound  secret,  as  a  vessel  was  daily  expected 
from  Madras  with  a  very  valuable  cargo  aboard, 
and  if  the  commander  of  a  French  frigate  then 
lying  in  the  Boston  Harbor  should  hear  of  it,  she 
must  inevitably  fall  into  his  hands.  Notwith- 
standing all  my  injunctions  to  secrecy,  Mr. 
Hodges  disclosed  the  whole  business  to  Capt. 
Perkins  before  leaving  the  wharf,  and  it  was  soon 
known  throughout  the  town. 

To  ascertain  the  validity  of  my  papers  my 
father  and  Capt.  Benj.  Hodges  took  them  to  Mr. 
Prescott,1  the  lawyer,  who  said  after  examining 

i  "Lawyer  Prescott  was  probably  William  Prescott,  born 
at  Pepperell,  Mass.,  Aug.  19th,  1762,  son  of  Col.  William 
Prescott  of  Revolutionary  fame,  commander  at  the  Battle 
of  Bunker  Hill. 

He  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1783,  married  in  1793 
Catherine  G.  Hickling.  In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  he  was  a  lawyer  in  Salem.  He  was  afterwards 
made  a  judge.  He  was  the  father  of  William  H.  Prescott, 
the  historian.  He  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  died  Dec. 
8,  1844."— E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  IV,  p.  7. 


MASTER  AND  SUPERCARGO  61 

them  very  carefully,  that  nothing  could  be 
stronger  than  that  contract;  there  was  no  getting 
clear  of  it;  that  George  had  tied  them  up  strong 
enough.  This  contract  I  had  made  out  without 
the  assistance  of  anyone.  As  I  had  engaged  to 
deliver  my  goods  in  Boston,  I  took  the  first  favor- 
able wind  to  go  there  and  fulfil  my  engagement. 
I  also  presented  my  drafts,  which  were  duly 
accepted.  And  now,  having  accomplished  my 
business,  I  returned  to  Salem  with  the  ship. 
Thus  ended  a  voyage  to  me  the  most  lucrative  and 
happy  one  I  ever  made.  Indeed,  it  is  said  to  have 
been  one  of  the  greatest  voyages,  considering  all 
the  circumstances,  ever  made  by  a  Salem  vessel. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MARRIAGE  AND  LAST  VOYAGES 

I  remained  at  home  about  two  months,  during 
which  time  occured  an  event  of  the  deepest  inter- 
est to  me,  viz.,  that  of  my  marriage,  after  a  long 
engagement  of  several  years.  The  ceremony 
took  place  on  the  22nd  of  November,  1801,  on 
Sunday  evening.  We  were  married  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Hopkins,1  in  my  Father  Pierce's2  great  eastern 
room,  which  was  finished  and  furnished  only  a 


1  "Rev.  Daniel  Hopkins,  D.  D.,  was  the  first  pastor  of  the 
South  Church  in  Salem,  having  been  ordained  Nov.  18th, 
1778.     He  died  Dec.  14,  1814."— E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  XIX, 
p.  116. 

2  "Jerathmiel  Peirce  was  the  youngest  of  the  seven  chil- 
dren of  Jerahmeel  and  Rebecca  Hurd  Peirce,  of  Charles- 
town,  Mass.     He  was  born  Feb.  1st,  1747,  and  died  August 
20th,  1827,  in  the  81st  year  of  his  age. 

His  brother  Benjamin,  nine  years  his  senior,  was  a  baker 
in  Charlestown.  In  1763,  he  sold  his  property  to  Daniel 
Waite,  and  moved  to  Salem,  taking  his  youngest  brother 
Jerathmiel  with  him.  Benjamin  was  killed  at  the  battle 
of  Lexington,  April  17,  1775." — Pierce  Genealogy. 

Jerathmiel  Peirce  began  his  business  life  as  a  leather 
dresser;  later  he  was  one  of  the  successful  East  India 
merchants  of  the  firm  of  Peirce  &  Waite. 

On  Feb.  6,  1772,  he  married  Sarah  Ropes,  the  oldest 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Ropes.  He  had  nine  children,  five 
of  whom  lived  to  mature  age. — Ed. 

62 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES      63 

short  time  before.  Aunt  Adams1  was  buried  from 
the  same  room,  only  three  days  before.  My  wife 
wanted  only  a  day  or  two  of  being  twenty-one 
years  old,  and  I  have  often  laughed  and  told  her 
she  was  never  free.  No  one  was  present  at  the 
wedding  but  the  two  families.  Betsey1  and 
Charlotte2  were  the  bridesmaids,  or  at  least  con- 
sidered themselves  so.  Sally's  dress  was  a  beau- 
tiful striped  muslin,  very  delicate,  made  in 
Bombay  for  some  distinguished  person.  I  pur- 
chased it  of  Nasser  Vanji,  at  five  dollars  per  yard. 
He  gave  me  at  the  same  time  a  camel's  hair  shawl, 
quite  a  handsome  one.  I  returned  the  compli- 
ment, by  presenting  him  with  a  set  of  Mavor's 
Voyages.  Afterwards  he  sent  me  a  shawl  of  a 
larger  size  and  handsomer.  This  muslin  Sally 
wore  over  white  silk.  Her  headdress  was  a  white 
lace  veil,  put  on  turban  fashion.  Her  cake,  of 
which  she  had  a  large  quantity,  was  made  in  a 
great  bread  tray  by  Nellie  Masury,  a  sister  of  the 
late  Deacon  Punchard.  She  was  quite  a  cele- 
brated cook.  I  had  forgotten  to  mention  that  the 
day  we  were  married,  Sally  went  to  meeting  in  the 
morning  with  the  family,  dressed  in  mourning, 
and  in  the  P.  M.,  she  went  in  her  usual  dress. 

1  "Rebecca  Peirce,  the  oldest  sister  of  Jerathmiel  Peirce, 
married  in  1770,  Joseph  Adams.     The  husband  died  in  1796, 
leaving  no  children." — Peirce  Genealogy. 

2  Betsey,  young  sister  of  the  bride. 

3  Charlotte,   youngest  sister  of  George  Nichols.     Later, 
she  married  Mr.  Charles  Sanders  of  Salem. 


64  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

We  immediately  went  to  housekeeping,  in  a  house 
on  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Federal  Streets, 
then  County  Street.  This  house  is  now  standing, 
1858. 

The  week  following  a  wedding  was  in  those 
days  given  up  to  receiving  guests,  and  almost 
every  afternoon  our  parlor,  a  common-sized  one, 
was  filled  with  company.  Among  the  visitors 
were  Mr.  Joshua  Ward  and  wife;1  Mr.  Joseph 
Sprague2  and  wife;  Mr.  Pickering  Dodge3  and 

1  "Joshua  Ward,  son  of  Miles  and  Hannah  Derby  Ward, 
was  born  Oct.  29,  1752,  died  Sept.  14,  1825.    He  was  a 
merchant  and  owned  a  distillery  near  the  southern  corner 
of  Front  and  Washington  Streets.    He  owned  and  lived 
in  the  brick  house  on  Washington  Street,  where  Dr.  John 
E.  Fiske  afterwards  lived.    Here  he  entertained  General 
Washington,   when   he  visited   Salem   in   1789.    His   first 
wife  was  Sarah  Lander,  mother  of  his  children.     His  sec- 
ond wife  was  Susan  McGee  of  Boston." — E.  I.  Hist.  Coll., 
Vol.  IV,  p.  177. 

2  "Major  Joseph  Sprague,  born  at  Medford,  Mass.,  July 
13th,  1739,  died  Feb.  13,  1808,  in  the  house  on  the  corner 
of  Flint  and  Essex  Streets,  which  he  bought  and  occupied 
in  1775.     He  also  built  for  his  son  the  brick  house  adjoining 
his  homestead,  occupied  later  by  Col.  Francis  Peabody,  by 
Samuel  L.  Williams,  the  London  banker,  and  by  John  H. 
Silsbee. 

"Mr.  Sprague  had  a  distillery  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  North  and  Federal  Streets,  behind  which  the  Danvers 
Company  of  Minute  Men  was  drawn  up  at  the  repulse  of 
Leslie."— E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  XXXVIII,  p.  352. 

s  "Pickering  Dodge,  son  of  Israel  and  Lucia  Pickering 
Dodge,  born  April  6th,  1778,  married  Nov.  5th,  1801, 
Rebecca,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Mary  Jenks.  Mr.  Dodge 
died  in  August,  1833,  well  .known  as  an  active,  enterprising, 
intelligent  and  honorable  merchant,  universally  esteemed." 
— E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  XV,  p.  301. 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES      65 

wife;  Mr.  Robert  Stone1  and  Mr.  Dudley 
Pickman.2  One  P.  M.,  when  quite  a  number  of 
young  friends  were  present,  who  should  make 
their  appearance  but  Aunt  Peggy  Ropes  and  her 
daughter,  with  an  infant  child.  They  were  very 
peculiar  people,  and  Aunt  P —  -  in  particular 
caused  a  great  deal  of  amusement  among  the 
young  people  by  her  vulgar  speeches.  Then  the 
baby  began  to  cry,  and  when  evening  came  and 
they  wanted  to  go  home  through  the  "Fields," 
as  they  called  North  Salem,  the  bridge  was  up, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  stay  until  nearly  nine 
o'clock. 

About  four  weeks  after  my  marriage,  I  engaged 
another  voyage  to  India  in  the  same  vessel,  the 
"Active."  I  sailed  about  the  middle  of  December 
for  Sumatra  as  master  and  supercargo.  We  had 
a  pleasant  passage  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
when  a  number  of  our  men  being  sick,  we  felt 

Mr.  Dodge  built  in  1822  the  brick  house  No.  29  Chestnut 
Street,  in  Salem,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Dr.  Octavius 
B.  Shreve.— Ed. 

1  Robert  Stone,  a  Salem  merchant  of  the  firm  of  Silsbee, 
Pickman  and  Stone.     He  married  Miss  Osgood.     They  had 
eleven  children,  six  sons  and  five  daughters. — Ed. 

2  "Dudley  Leavitt  Pickman,  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth 
Leavitt  Pickman,  baptized  May,  1779,  married  Sept.  6,  1810, 
Catherine,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Elkins  San- 
ders."—E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  XV,  p.  303. 

Mr.  Pickman  was  a  Salem  merchant  of  the  firm  of 
Devereux,  Pickman  &  Silsbee.  He  built  the  brick  house 
on  the  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Pickering  Streets.  He  was 
the  grandfather  of  the  present  Mr.  Dudley  L.  Pickman,  of 
Boston  and  Beverly. — Ed. 


66  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

obliged  to  put  into  Table  Bay  for  medical  advice. 
At  the  end  of  a  week  their  health  was  so  much 
improved  that  we  were  able  to  proceed  on  our 
voyage.  When  we  arrived  in  the  neigborhood  of 
St.  Paul,  the  weather  was  so  pleasant  that  I  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  to  stop  and  fish.  We 
caught  as  many  as  we  could  dispose  of,  and  then 
landed  upon  the  island  in  pursuit  of  seals,  which 
we  found  very  abundant,  though  not  so  much  so 
as  formerly.  I  returned  to  the  vessel  in  half  an 
hour  with  about  one  dozen  and  a  half  of  seals  and 
skins.  The  day  after  losing  sight  of  this  island, 
I  saw  an  immense  shoal  of  black  fish  coming 
directly  towards  us.  I  desired  Mr.  Sinclair,  my 
second  mate,  to  load  my  gun  with  two  balls.  I 
fired  at  one  of  them,  but  my  first  attempt  was  un- 
successful, but  the  second  time  I  fired  I  hit  a  fish 
and  caused  him  to  spout  blood.  A  few  moments 
after  he  died,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  ship. 
I  immediately  lowered  the  boat,  and  taking  two 
or  three  hands,  rowed  to  the  fish.  He  was  very 
large,  weighing  not  less  than  a  thousand  pounds. 
Having  towed  him  alongside  of  the  vessel,  we  cut 
out  the  blubber,  which  we  tried  out,  and  got 
thirty-two  gallons  of  oil  from  it.  After  this 
adventure,  we  resumed  our  voyage,  and  arrived 
on  the  coast  of  Sumatra  without  further  incident 
worthy  of  note. 

I  cruised  for  a  day  or  two  along  the  coast  in 
search  of  a  landing  place,  when  I  saw  the  masts 
of  a  ship  in  a  small  harbor.  I  entered,  and  found 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES       67 

it  was  the  port  of  Mukka,  and  the  ship  was  the 
"America"  of  Salem,  Capt.  Briggs,  master.1  I 
went  ashore  in  my  boat,  and  saw  great  numbers 
of  Malays,  all  well  armed.  I  soon  negotiated 
with  the  Governor  for  a  cargo  of  pepper.  We 
fixed  upon  a  price,  but  he  said  he  could  not  deliver 
any  to  me  until  Capt.  Briggs'  vessel  was  loaded. 
Now  the  "America"  was  more  than  three  times 
the  size  of  the  "Active,"  and  she  had  as  yet  re- 
ceived but  half  of  her  cargo,  so  I  declined  waiting, 
unless  the  Governor  would  fix  upon  a  time  for  me 
to  begin  to  receive.  It  was  finally  agreed  that  I 
should  begin  to  receive  in  a  week,  whether  the 
"America"  was  loaded  or  not.  Capt.  Briggs 
objected  strongly  to  this,  and  insisted  upon  having 
all  the  pepper  that  was  brought  in  until  his  cargo 
was  completed.  A  week  elapsed.  I  now  used 
every  argument  in  my  power  to  induce  Capt. 
B —  -  to  come  to  some  amicable  terms,  but  all 
my  efforts  were  fruitless.  I  told  him  if  three 
hundred  piculs2  were  brought  in  daily,  he  might 
have  two  of  them,  but  if  only  two  hundred,  I 
should  feel  myself  entitled  to  one  hundred.  "You 

1  "Capt.    Jeremiah    Briggs    was    captain    of    the    Ship 
'America'   in   1802.     Her   original  name   was   'Blonde.'     In 
the  French  war  she  carried  twenty  guns.     Said  to  have 
been  the  largest  vessel   in  the  merchant   service  in  the 
United    States.     Sold    in    France    in    1812.     Owners,    the 
Crowninshields.     Ship  654  tons  burden,  purchased  in  Bor- 
deaux in  1798."— Salem  Ship  Register,  page  8. 

2  Picul  or  Pecul.     "A  weight  varying  in  different  Oriental 
countries    from    133   Ibs.    5   oz.   to   200   Ibs."— Worcester's 
Dictionary. 


68  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

shall  not  have  a  pound,  if  I  can  help  it,"  was  his 
reply.  "If  it  has  come  to  fighting,"  said  I,  "the 
hardest  must  fend  off."  Every  effort  was  made 
by  him  to  prevent  me  from  getting  pepper,  not- 
withstanding which  I  got  the  first  day  one-fourth 
of  all  that  was  brought  in,  and  the  second  day  I 
got  one-third.  "Now,"  said  I,  "you  see  I  can  get 
pepper  as  well  as  you.  It  is  a  pity  to  quarrel 
about  it.  Let  us  work  together  harmoniously." 
But  no,  he  would  not  yield  to  my  wishes.  A  great 
deal  of  pepper  was  brought  from  a  village,  which 
was  about  one-half  mile  distant  from  the  harbor 
where  our  vessel  lay.  The  natives  brought  it  in 
bags  upon  their  backs,  and  were  obliged  to  cross 
a  river  about  two  feet  deep.  Capt.  Briggs,  think- 
ing to  get  the  advantage  of  me,  employed  his  men, 
of  whom  he  had  about  three  times  as  many  as  I 
had,  in  transporting  it  through  the  water  to  his 
vessel.  Seeing  this,  I  observed  to  my  men  that 
I  was  very  sorry  to  call  upon  them  to  do  such 
drudgery  as  that,  but  I  must  do  it,  otherwise  Capt. 
Briggs  would  obtain  all  the  pepper.  They  replied 
with  a  great  deal  of  feeling,  "Capt.  Nichols,  we 
will  go  as  far  as  Capt.  Briggs'  men,  let  them  go 
as  far  as  they  may."  So  saying,  they  went  cheer- 
fully to  work,  and  at  the  close  of  the  day  I  found 
that  we  had  one-half  of  all  that  had  been  received. 

I  again  renewed  my  first  offer  to  Capt.  B ,  but 

he  declined  it  and  replied  to  me  as  before. 
Observing  on  one  occasion  that  a  large  quantity 
of  pepper  had  been  brought  in  in  boats  during  the 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES      69 

night,  I  resolved  to  secure  it  if  possible.  Accord- 
ingly I  arose  at  daylight,  jumped  into  my  boat, 
and  taking  four  of  my  men,  with  bags,  rowed  to 
the  shore.  We  passed  the  "America"  on  our  way, 
the  crew  of  which  were  surprised  to  find  us  stir- 
ring so  early,  but  when  Capt.  B —  -  discovered 
our  object,  he,  too,  manned  his  boat  and  went 
ashore.  He  was  too  late,  he  found  to  his  great 
mortification,  to  obtain  any  pepper;  we  had  it  all, 
a  larger  supply  than  we  had  received  in  any  one 
day. 

Before  I  had  completed  my  cargo,  I  narrowly 
escaped  being  cut  off  by  the  natives.  I  was 
ashore  one  day  receiving  pepper,  when  Mr.  Ward, 
joint  supercargo  with  Capt.  Briggs,  sawr  one  of 
his  bags  in  the  hands  of  a  native.  He  suddenly 
snatched  it  from  him  and  ran  off.  The  man 
enraged,  drew  his  creese  and  pursued  him,  but 
failing  to  get  at  him,  he  turned  upon  one  of  my 
men  who  was  near,  receiving  peppers.  The  man 
sprang, — the  Malay  after  him,  and  immediately 
all  the  Malays  drew  their  weapons.  I  was  from 
one  to  two  hundred  yards  distant  at  the  time,  and 
seeing  the  confusion  I  hastened  to  the  spot  to 
ascertain  the  cause.  There  I  saw  my  man  and 
the  Malay  within  ten  feet  of  him,  with  his  drawn 
creese  in  his  hand.  To  retreat  was  impossible, 
for  the  Malays  were  between  me  and  my  boats. 
So,  alone  and  unarmed,  I  went  into  the  midst  of 
the  natives,  and  they,  perceiving  that  my  designs 
were  pacific,  assisted  me  in  arresting  the  offender. 


70  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

I  clapped  my  hand  upon  his  back,  and  asked  him 
what  he  meant  by  such  doings.  Then  sending 
for  the  Rajah,  I  complained  of  the  man  to  him, 
and  assured  him  if  ever  anything  of  the  kind 
occurred  again,  I  would  immediately  resort  to  my 
ship,  fire  upon  the  town  and  destroy  it,  adding, 
"You  know  I  could  do  it."  He  assented,  and  after 
that  I  had  no  more  trouble.  It  was  now  about 
noon,  so  I  went  aboard  my  vessel  and  dined.  On 
my  return  one  of  the  first  persons  I  met  was  the 
Malay  who  attempted  to  kill  my  man.  He  was 
seated  upon  some  bags  of  pepper,  and  being  at 
leisure,  I  sat  down  by  him.  With  his  permission, 
I  took  his  creese  in  my  hand,  and  found,  upon 
examination,  that  it  was  poisoned,  and  the  least 
wound  with  it  would  have  caused  instant  death. 
This  Malay  was  a  very  civil,  pleasant  fellow,  and 
one  of  the  smartest  men  I  ever  knew.  We  after- 
wards became  very  good  friends. 

The  morning  after  this  adventure,  Capt.  Briggs 
left  for  a  neighboring  port,  a  few  miles  distant, 
though  he  had  received  only  about  two-thirds  of 
his  cargo.  His  reason  for  leaving,  we  may  infer 
without  much  difficulty.  From  this  time  I  re- 
ceived pepper  about  as  fast  as  I  could  ship  it.  A 
few  days  after  this,  Capt.  Thomas  Webb,1  of  the 
brig  "George  Washington,"  came  into  port  for  a 

i  "Thomas  Webb  was  a  shipmaster  and  during  the  war 
of  1812-1815  was  the  keeper  of  the  prison  ship  at  Rust's 
wharf  in  Salem.  He  died  in  1825,  aged  69  years." — E.  I. 
Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  7. 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES       71 

cargo  of  pepper.  As  my  cargo  was  nearly  com- 
pleted, I  requested  him  to  wait  till  my  vessel  was 
loaded,  and  then  he  would  have  the  market  to 
himself.  He  agreed  not  to  interfere  with  me,  but 
fearing  to  be  left  there  alone  on  account  of  the 
natives,  he  left  the  port  in  the  course  of  a  day  or 
two.  When  Capt.  W—  -  first  saw  me  ashore  he 
eyed  me  with  astonishment.  "Why,  you  look  like 
a  devil,"  said  he.  I  was  dressed  in  striped,  loose 
trousers,  a  thin  jacket,  without  vest,  an  old 
slouched  hat,  and  shoes  without  stockings,  but 
the  shoes  I  took  off  when  wading  through  the 
water.  Nothing  pleased  the  natives  more  than  to 
find  me  ready  to  conform  to  their  customs.  I 
often  walked  arm  in  arm  with  their  leading  men, 
went  into  their  huts  to  light  my  cigars,  and  offer- 
ing them  some,  would  sit  down  and  smoke  with 
them.  A  little  act  of  imprudence  on  my  part 
came  very  near  bringing  me  into  serious  difficulty 
with  the  Rajah.  About  the  time  I  began  to 
receive  pepper,  they  raised  the  price  of  it  one 
dollar  on  a  picul.  This  was  in  consequence  of 
their  charging  more  in  other  ports.  I  met  the 
Rajah  and  other  leading  men  in  a  room,  which 
they  called  their  council  chamber,  and  remon- 
strated with  them  upon  raising  the  price,  after 
the  contract  which  they  had  made  with  me,  but 
all  to  no  purpose.  In  the  excitement  of  the  mo- 
ment, I  called  the  Rajah  a  bad  man,  which  exas- 
perated him  very  much.  Conscious  that  I  had 
erred,  I  immediately  sought  means  to  pacify  him. 


72  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

I  patted  him  on  the  shoulder  and  asked  him  to  go 
with  me  into  another  room.  I  then  offered  to 
give  him  one  hundred  dollars  if  he  would  fulfil  his 
contract  with  me,  but  he  would  not  consent  to  do 
it  for  that  sum.  Finally  I  agreed  to  give  him  five 
hundred  dollars,  and  told  him  that  he  could 
pocket  the  whole  if  he  chose.  This  sum  satisfied 
him,  and  secured  me  his  friendship.  In  less  than 
a  fortnight  after  Capt.  Briggs  left  Mukka  I  com- 
pleted my  cargo,  and  made  arrangements  to 
continue  my  voyage. 

It  was  very  important  for  the  health  of  all  on 
board  that  we  should  get  a  supply  of  poultry 
before  leaving.  The  Malays,  however,  were  too 
indolent  to  furnish  it  for  the  usual  sum,  so  I 
offered  five  times  the  common  price  for  two  dozen 
good  fowls.  They  engaged  to  furnish  them,  but 
supposing  that  they  could  have  that  price  for  any 
number  which  they  might  bring,  they  brought,  as 
I  supposed  they  would,  about  ten  or  twelve  dozen. 
I  selected  two  dozen  of  the  best  fowls,  and  paid 
them  the  price  stipulated.  They  urged  me  to 
take  the  rest.  "No,"  I  replied,  "I  have  all  that  I 
have  engaged  to  buy,  and  you  may  carry  the 
others  home."  They  were  unwilling  to  do  that, 
however,  but  preferred  to  let  me  have  them  at  the 
rate  of  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  per  dozen. 
During  my  stay  at  Mukka,  which  was  about  four 
weeks,  I  never  could  prevail  upon  Mr.  Slocum,1 

i  Mr.  Ebenezer  Slocum. 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES      73 

my  first  mate,  to  go  ashore,  he  was  so  much  afraid 
of  the  natives.  And  now  having  completed  my 
business  in  this  port,  I  left  for  Manila,  and  as  Capt. 
Benj.  Hodges  advised  me  to  go  through  the  straits 
of  Malacca,  I  took  that  course,  though  attended 
with  so  much  danger  on  account  of  large  numbers 
of  pirates  infesting  the  coasts,  that  he  was  unwil- 
ling to  go  through  several  years  before  without 
the  convoy  of  a  well-armed  vessel.  As  my  vessel 
was  poorly  armed,  I  felt  no  little  anxiety  on  my 
passage,  a  tedious  one  of  twenty  days.  I  saw 
several  vessels  at  a  distance,  which  I  took  to  be 
pirates,  only  one  of  which,  however,  showed  any 
disposition  to  molest  me,  and  knowing  that  I 
could  not  escape  from  him,  I  steered  directly 
towards  him,  determined  to  run  him  down  if 
possible,  seeing  which,  he  immediately  made  off. 
On  my  arrival  at  Cavete,  the  out-port  of  Manila, 
and  about  nine  miles  distant  from  it,  I  found  sev- 
eral American  vessels  there  for  cargoes  of  sugar 
and  indigo.  People  at  Manila  were  surprised  that 
pepper  should  be  brought  there  for  sale,  but  my 
merchant  Mr.  Kerr,  a  Spaniard,  managed  to  sell 
mine  at  about  the  cost.  My  next  object  was  to 
procure  indigo,  which  was,  however,  very  scarce, 
and  in  such  demand  that  it  was  thought  very 
doubtful  whether  I  should  be  able  to  get  a  cargo. 
Still,  determined  to  spare  no  pains  to  obtain  it,  I 
went  about  twenty  miles  up  the  river  in  a  boat, 
with  Mr.  Kerr,  and  found  it  in  such  abundance 
that  in  two  days  I  got  all  I  wanted.  The  com- 


74  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

pany's  officers  were  astonished  at  my  success,  for 
they  had  no  idea  of  there  being  so  much  on  the 
island.  And  now  my  indigo  must  be  assorted  and 
packed,  and  with  my  own  hands,  too, — a  dirty  job, 
one  of  the  dirtiest  I  ever  undertook.  I  got  me 
some  thin  blue  clothes  and  went  cheerfully  to 
work,  and  in  a  few  weeks'  time  the  task  was 
accomplished.  Capt.  Derby,  with  whom  I  kept 
bachelor's  hall,  laughed  at  me  a  great  deal,  and 
would  not  come  within  two  or  three  feet  of  me, 
I  was  so  colored  with  indigo.  But  the  natives  had 
a  weed,  which  they  called  soap  weed,  which  re- 
moved the  color  very  easily  from  the  skin.  One 
day,  while  busily  at  work  upon  my  indigo,  Mr. 
Kerr  set  a  large  American  ram  upon  me,  without 
giving  me  any  notice  of  his  intention.  True,  he 
did  it  in  sport,  but  it  was  very  dangerous  sport, 
for  the  animal  came  very  near  costing  me  my  life. 
He  advanced  within  eight  or  ten  feet  of  me,  and 
was  on  the  point  of  springing  directly  upon 
me,  when  I  happened  to  see  him  and  instantly 
stepped  aside.  I  caught  up  a  club  and  gave  him 
such  a  blow  on  the  side  of  the  head  as  almost  to 
stun  him.  He  was  a  very  powerful  creature, 
twice  as  large  as  a  common  sheep,  with  horns 
proportionately  large.  After  this  I  often  had 
sport  with  the  old  ram.  I  would  entice  him 
towards  me  and  then  parry  off  his  intended  blows 
with  a  club,  with  which  I  always  took  the  precau- 
tion to  arm  myself.  On  one  occasion  I  struck 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES       75 

him  with  such  force  upon  the  nose  that  I  never 
afterwards  could  induce  him  to  come  near  me. 

During  my  stay  at  Manila,  I  had  occasion  one 
day  to  go  to  my  ship  for  money,  and  Mr.  Zach 
Silsbee,1  who  was  there  at  that  time,  wishing  to 
visit  his  vessel,  we  took  a  boat  with  two  men  to 
row  us.  Our  passage  to  Cavete  was  a  pleasant 
one,  but  while  there  it  commenced  raining,  and 
the  weather  looked  very  threatening.  Notwith- 
standing this,  we  ventured  out  again  in  our  little 
boat  to  return  to  Manila.  It  soon  began  to  blow 
very  hard,  and  there  was  every  appearance  of  a 
gale,  but  go  on  we  must  now,  for  the  wind  would 
not  allow  us  to  return.  The  wind  increased 
rapidly,  and  our  situation  soon  became  very 
alarming.  Moreover,  we  had  got  to  cross  a  bar, 
which  in  pleasant  weather  was  considered  dan- 
gerous to  pass  in  such  a  boat  as  ours.  Our 
only  hope  now  was  in  keeping  as  calm  and 
collected  as  possible. 

Observing  that  Mr.  S—  looked  pale  and 
anxious,  I  said  to  him  in  as  cheerful  a  tone  as  I 
could  command,  "We  have  shipped  for  this 
voyage,  and  we  must  go  through  with  it."  We 
drew  near  the  bar,  the  sea  ran  so  very  high  that 
it  seemed  impossible  for  us  to  cross  it.  By-and- 
by  the  sea  dashed  over  us,  filling  our  boat  more 

i  "Mr.  Zachariah  Silsbee,  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Sarah 
Becket  Silsbee,  and  a  brother  of  Mr.  William  Silsbee.  A 
shipmaster  and  merchant.  He  married  in  1810  Sarah 
Boardman,  daughter  of  Francis  and  Mary  Hodges  Board- 
man." — Hodges  Family  of  New  England,  page  41. 


76  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

than  half  full  of  water.  Fortunately  for  us,  when 
in  our  vessel,  we  had  exchanged  our  common  hats 
for  leather  ones;  but  for  that  we  must  have  inev- 
itably been  drowned,  for  with  these  we  bailed  out 
the  water,  and  soon  cleared  the  boat.  We  had 
rowed  but  a  short  distance  when  we  again  shipped 
a  tremendous  sea.  "Off  hats  and  bail  away,"  I 
cried  out.  Again  and  again  while  crossing  the 
bar  was  our  boat  filled  nearly  to  sinking,  and 
when  finally  we  succeeded  in  getting  into  com- 
paratively smooth  water  our  boat  was  nearly 
balanced  and  our  men,  mulattoes,  were  white 
with  fear.  Our  escape  was  indeed  almost  mirac- 
ulous, for  I  afterwards  saw  a  boat  ten  times  the 
size  of  ours,  swamped  in  crossing  this  bar,  and 
many  lives  were  lost. 

Nothing  more  worthy  of  note  occurred  while  I 
was  at  Manila,  and  having  completed  the  cargo, 
an  assorted  one  of  indigo,  sugar,  etc.,  we  sailed 


i  While  at  Manila,  thinking  it  might  be  two  or  three 
months  before  the  season  would  allow  me  to  return  home, 
I  planned  to  take  a  trip  to  Japan.  I  was  to  go  in  the 
"Active"  with  a  small  cargo  of  sugar,  piece  goods,  etc. 
A  gentleman  from  New  York  then  at  Manila,  took  great 
interest  in  this  enterprise,  which,  by  the  way,  was  consid- 
ered a  very  bold  one,  as  the  Japanese  ports  were  closed 
against  all  foreigners,  the  Dutch  alone  excepted,  and 
assisted  in  purchasing  my  cargo.  My  intention  was  to 
ship  for  Ningpo.  But  arrived  at  Japan,  I  was  to  feign 
distress  and  put  into  Nagaski  for  repairs.  Once  allowed 
to  land,  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  dispose  of  my  cargo  advan- 
tageously. I  set  sail  and  had  been  out  about  a  week,  when 
the  monsoon  changed,  and  I  was  prevented  from  going  on. 
A  day  or  two  more  of  favorable  weather  would  have 
brought  me  to  Nagaski. 


Parlor  closet  where  the  china  was  kept  which  was  sent  home  from  India  in  the 
ship  of  Jerathmiel  Peirce,  father-in-law  of  George  Nichols. 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES      77 

for  home,  via  Europe,  on  the  12th  of  November, 
1802.  We  had  a  safe  and  pleasant  passage  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  arriving  there  about  the  10th 
of  January.  We  put  into  Table  Bay  for  refresh- 
ments, when  we  were  informed  of  a  very  interest- 
ing event  which  had  occurred  there  a  few  days 
before.  This  Cape,  which  was  taken  by  the 
English  from  the  Dutch  some  years  previous  to 
this,  had  been  by  a  late  treaty  of  peace  ceded  to 
the  Dutch,  and  they  sent  officers  and  troops  to 
take  possession.  They  arrived  the  latter  part  of 
December.  The  British  general  and  officers  pro- 
posed surrendering  the  fort  immediately,  but  the 
Dutch  General  said,  "No,"  that  he  should  prefer 
to  wait  until  the  first  of  January,  as  that  was  a 
gala  day  with  them.  On  the  31st  of  December 
most  of  the  troops  that  garrisoned  the  fort 
embarked  for  England,  and  the  keys  of  the 
Arsenal  were  sent  to  the  Governor.  Early  in  the 
morning  of  the  1st  of  January  an  English  packet 
arrived  with  instructions  to  the  Commander  to 
retain  the  fort  if  he  had  not  already  surrendered 
it.  Upon  which  he  sent  a  polite  note  to  the 
Governor,  requesting  him  to  return  the  keys,  as 
he  wished  to  put  everything  in  order  in  the  fort, 
and  he  then  proceeded  to  land  the  troops.  When 
noon  arrived,  the  time  proposed  for  surrendering 
the  fort,  and  which  they  intended  to  do  with  great 
ceremony,  the  Dutch  were  informed  that  orders 
had  just  been  received  not  to  give  it  up.  The 
people  were  very  much  enraged  with  Gov.  Janson, 


78  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

then  considered  one  of  the  most  celebrated  char- 
acters hi  Holland.  Their  anger,  however,  had 
cooled  down  somewhat  when  we  arrived.  A 
treaty  was  made  by  which  it  was  agreed  that  the 
Dutch  should  depart  without  molestation. 

After  being  at  Cape  Town  about  a  week,  I 
waited  upon  the  British  Admiral,  Sir  Roger  Curtis, 
for  permission  to  leave.  He  gave  me  a  most 
friendly,  cordial  greeting,  and  granted  my  request. 
The  middle  of  March  found  me  in  Falmouth, 
England.  I  had  a  most  delightful  journey  by 
stage  from  Falmouth  to  London,  a  distance  of 
from  two  to  three  hundred  miles.  The  country 
most  of  the  way  was  under  the  highest  state  of 
cultivation,  and  far  exceeded  in  beauty  my  most 
sanguine  expectations.  I  remained  in  London 
only  two  days,  got  all  necessary  information  with 
regard  to  my  business  and  returned  to  Falmouth. 
My  next  place  of  destination  was  Rotterdam, 
Holland.  On  my  way  there,  when  passing 
through  the  Straits  of  Dover,  we  encountered  one 
or  two  British  ships  of  war,  and  presently  an 
officer  from  one  of  them  put  off  in  a  boat  and 
made  for  our  vessel.  Our  men,  knowing  that  im- 
pressment was  constantly  going  on  among  sea- 
men, were  very  much  alarmed  and  appealed  to  me 
for  protection.  "There  are  my  military  stores," 
said  I,  pointing  to  a  chest,  and  addressing  myself 
to  the  oldest  of  my  sailors.  "I  must  go  below  to 
take  care  of  my  property.  If  one  man  is  taken 
from  my  vessel,  I  declare  to  you  that  I  will  go 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES      79 

to  the  ends  of  the  earth  if  necessary,  to  recover 
him."  The  man  appeared  very  grateful;  he  took 
off  his  hat  and  made  me  a  low  bow.  The  British 
officer  failed  in  his  attempt  to  board  our  vessel. 
We  outsailed  him,  and  he  made  for  another 
vessel.  Two  or  three  days  after  this  incident  I 
arrived  at  Hellevoethius,  took  a  pilot  and  went  to 
Rotterdam,  situated  on  the  Maas,  more  than  one 
hundred  miles  from  its  mouth.  I  found  the 
people  here  very  much  alarmed  lest  there  should 
be  war  between  England  and  France.  Immedi- 
ately after  my  arrival  I  went  to  one  of  the  first 
houses  in  Rotterdam,  and  they  advised  me  by  all 
means  to  sell  my  cargo  at  once,  telling  me  that 
there  was  no  prospect  of  war.  "I  think  other- 
wise, therefore  shall  not  sell,"  said  I.  Day  after 
day  they  continued  to  urge  my  selling,  when  at 
length  I  told  them  that  I  did  not  want  their  advice ; 
that  I  would  sell  when  I  was  ready,  and  not  before. 
In  the  course  of  three  weeks  my  expectations 
were  realized  and  war  was  declared.  I  was  now 
ready  to  sell  my  cargo,  and  I  got  for  it  50  per  cent 
more  than  I  could  have  obtained  when  I  first 
arrived.  Having  purchased  a  quantity  of  gin  and 
some  other  articles,  I  put  them  on  board.  I  sent 
the  vessel  down  the  river  to  Hellevoethius,  to 
await  my  arrival.  Having  remained  in  Rotter- 
dam about  ten  days  longer,  I  rejoined  the  vessel. 
We  got  under  way  about  the  10th  of  March,  1803, 
and  had  a  very  pleasant  passage  home.  One 
little  incident  occurred  on  the  passage  which  I 


80  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

have  often  thought  of  with  great  pleasure. 
When  we  arrived  on  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland, 
we  had  a  great  deal  of  calm  weather,  which  re- 
tarded our  progress  very  much.  One  evening  at 
supper,  the  mate  observed  to  me  that  there  was 
very  little  bread  aboard,  only  about  two  thirds  of 
a  barrel,  much  less  than  I  had  supposed.  I 
requested  him  to  bring  it  up  on  deck.  I  then 
called  the  men  aft  and  told  them  I  was  extremely 
mortified  to  be  obliged  to  put  them  upon  allow- 
ance, the  first  time  I  had  been  obliged  to  do  so 
during  the  whole  voyage  of  twenty  months,  but 
that  they  should  share  equally  with  me  and  the 
other  officers.  One  of  the  sailors  replied,  (I  think 
it  was  the  same  one  who  came  to  me  for  protec- 
tion a  few  months  before,  when  he  feared  im- 
pressment by  the  British  officer),  "Capt.  Nichols, 
we  should  have  no  cause  to  complain  if  we  should 
not  have  another  mouthful  of  bread  before  we 
got  in."  The  wind  breezed  up,  however,  and  two 
days  after  we  arrived  in  Salem  after  a  pleasant 
voyage  of  about  twenty  months.  All  the  ship's 
company  returned  in  perfect  health,  and  I  think 
no  one  had  been  confined  by  sickness  for  a  single 
day  during  the  whole  time. 

After  remaining  at  home  a  few  weeks,  I  con- 
cluded to  go  on  a  third  voyage  in  the  "Active." 
I  sailed  for  Amsterdam  about  the  first  of  Septem- 
ber, 1803,  with  a  cargo  of  tea  and  colonial 
produce.  We  arrived  at  the  Texel  after  a  very 
short  passage  of  about  twenty-seven  days;  so 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES      81 

short  for  those  days  that  sea  captains  there  would 
not  credit  my  statements  until  I  had  showed  them 
my  papers. 

I  was  as  usual  boarded  by  a  government  officer 
to  ascertain  where  I  was  from,  where  bound,  and 
of  what  my  cargo  consisted.  I  told  him  I  was 
from  Salem,  was  bound  to  Antwerp,  though  I  had 
intended  to  go  to  Amsterdam,  and  my  cargo  was 
made  up  of  tea,  sugar  and  coffee.  When  I  spoke 
of  tea  the  officer  observed,  "That  is  a  contraband 
article.  It  is  unlawful  to  bring  it  into  Holland." 

"Oh,"  said  I,  in  a  careless  tone,  "I  put  in  here 
in  consequence  of  head  winds.  I  had  no  idea  of 
landing  my  cargo  here." 

The  Government,  however,  was  immediately 
informed  of  the  matter,  and  I  proceeded  to 
Amsterdam  by  land,  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles. 
I  called  upon  the  house  to  whom  I  had  been 
recommended,  and  whose  agent  had  grossly  de- 
ceived the  owners  of  the  "Active,"  as  well  as  me, 
with  regard  to  the  carrying  teas  to  Holland.  I 
found  them  feeling  very  anxious,  and  they  prom- 
ised to  give  me  all  possible  aid  to  extricate  myself 
from  this  difficulty.  They  told  me  that  the  city 
officers  were  to  have  a  meeting  in  the  evening  to 
consider  my  case,  and  one  of  the  partners  offered 
to  go  with  me  to  see  one  of  the  senators  and 
ascertain  the  result  of  the  meeting.  Accordingly, 
about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  we  waited 
upon  the  senator  and  were  informed  by  him  that 
nothing  prevented  my  vessel  being  seized  but  my 


82  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

saying  I  was  bound  to  Antwerp.  Assuming  a 
bold  front,  "My  orders  to  you  are  that  you  shall 
go  to  sea  immediately."  I  replied  to  him,  "I  shall 
go  to  sea  when  convenient,  and  not  before.  You 
may  put  as  many  soldiers  aboard  my  vessel  as 
you  choose;  I  suppose  I  am  entitled  to  as  many 
privileges  here  as  I  should  have  among  savages." 
The  next  morning  I  saw  the  merchant  who  had 
deceived  me.  He  was  a  venerable  old  man.  He 
congratulated  me  upon  my  escape  and  asked  me 
where  I  intended  going.  "You  have  deceived 
me,"  I  replied,  "and  I  shall  now  go  where  I  think 
best."  As  I  could  not  decide  whether  it  was  best 
for  me  to  go  to  Antwerp  or  Emden,  I  consulted 
Mr.  Wills,  one  of  a  distinguished  firm  in  Amster- 
dam. He  advised  me  to  go  to  Antwerp.  Then 
observing  a  gentleman  approaching  us,  he  said: 
"Here  is  a  gentleman  from  Emden,  who  can 
advise  you  better  than  I  can."  The  gentleman 
then  asked  Mr.  W—  -  if  I  could  speak  Dutch. 

Addressing  myself  to  Mr.  W ,  I  said:  "I  will 

thank  you,  sir,  to  be  my  interpreter.  Will  you 
ask  him  if  tea,  the  most  valuable  part  of  my 
cargo,  will  sell  well  in  Emden?"  The  question 
was  put  to  him  in  Dutch,  and  his  reply  I  perfectly 
understood.  It  was,  "It  will  sell  very  well,  there." 
"Do  you  understand  him?"  said  Mr.  Wills. 
"What  did  he  say,  sir?"  said  I.  He  replied,  "The 
gentleman  says  your  cargo  will  not  sell  at  all 

there."     Mr.  W ,  as  I  afterwards  found,  was 

actuated  by  purely  selfish  motives  in  the  course 


MARRIAGE    AND    LAST    VOYAGES      83 

he  pursued  towards  me.  As  he  was  daily  expect- 
ing the  arrival  of  a  cargo  of  his  own  tea  at  Emden, 
he  did  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  me  from  going 
there,  lest  I  should  interfere  with  him.  The  next 
morning  I  sent  him  a  note  informing  him  that  I 
was  about  leaving  for  Emden,  and  should  be 
happy  to  take  anything  he  might  like  to  send. 
Upon  my  arrival  at  Emden  I  found  the  market 
for  tea  as  had  been  represented,  and  in  a  few  days 
I  disposed  of  mine  at  a  handsome  price,  realizing 
ten  per  cent  more  for  it  than  I  could  have 
obtained  in  Antwerp.  The  remainder  of  my 
cargo  I  concluded  to  send  to  Bremen  by  land, 
where  I  disposed  of  it  quite  advantageously  in  the 
course  of  two  or  three  months.  And  now,  having 
sent  my  vessel  home  under  charge  of  Mr.  Slocum 
and  settled  my  business,  I  took  passage  myself 
in  a  vessel  sailing  from  Amsterdam  to  New  York, 
Captain  Isaacs,  master.  Our  passage  was  with- 
out incident  worthy  of  note.  When  we  arrived 
the  captain  received  orders  from  the  owners  of 
the  vessel  to  go  to  Philadelphia  with  the  ship,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  Collector  at  New  York 
refused  to  let  me  land  there,  but  said  I  must  go 
in  the  vessel  to  Philadelphia.  Having  stated  my 
case  to  him  fully  without  effect,  I  became  quite 
indignant,  and  declared  to  him  that  if  I  went  in 
the  vessel  it  must  be  in  irons ;  that  as  an  American 
citizen  I  had  a  right  to  land,  and  was  determined 
to  do  it,  and  that  he  was  welcome  to  my  duds  if 
he  chose  to  take  them.  Seeing  my  determina- 


84  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

tion,  he  permitted  me  to  come  on  shore  with  my 
baggage  and  papers.  The  morning  following, 
Sunday,  I  embarked  for  Boston,  via  Providence, 
in  a  packet.  I  arrived  in  Boston  Monday  evening, 
and  the  next  morning,  July  31st,  1804,  break- 
fasted in  Salem.  Thus  ended  my  last  voyage, 
since  which  I  have  never  felt  any  desire  to  cross 
the  Atlantic. 


CHAPTER  V. 

WATCH  STORY  AND  CONCLUDING  REMARKS 

My  Watch  Story. 

As  this  is  a  story  of  which  my  friends  never 
seem  to  weary,  I  will  here  record  it,  for  the  plea- 
sure of  those  who  may  have  forgotten  it,  or  who 
like  to  listen  to  an  oft-repeated  tale. 

Previous  to  sailing  on  my  second  voyage  to 
India,  I  purchased  in  Boston  a  good  watch,  with 
a  second  hand,  for  which  I  gave  $42.  I  then  went 
to  the  Isle  of  France,  and  while  there  I  bartered 
it  for,  I  believe,  four  bags  of  coffee.  After  dis- 
posing of  our  cargo,  I  returned  home  without  any 
watch.  I  afterwards  went  to  Norway,  where  I 
found  one  similar  to  that,  and  obtained  it  for  one 
bag  of  coffee.  My  next  watch  adventure  was  in 
London,  where  I  had  a  gold  watch  made  by  one 
Tobias,  a  Jew,  very  much  thought  of  by  Ameri- 
cans, but  an  unprincipled  man.  It  cost  me  about 
$120.  I  had  now  two  watches.  From  London 
I  went  to  Ramsgate,  where  I  disposed  of  my 
silver  watch,  getting  for  it  one  equally  good,  and 
two  and  one-half  guineas  in  addition.  While  in 
Madras  I  kept  bachelor's  hall  with  Capt.  Town- 

85 


86  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

send1  and  Mr.  Cabot,  the  latter  of  whom  I  saw 
one  day  take  from  his  trunk  a  silver  watch.  Said 
I  to  him,  "I  have  a  watch  just  like  that."  "And 
I,  too,  have  one  like  it,"  said  Capt.  Townsend. 
"Now,"  said  I,  "let  us  turn  up  a  copper  and  see 
who  shall  have  the  three."  "No,"  says  Mr. 

C ,  "We  will  draw  lots  for  them."     Upon  this 

we  drew  lots,  and  I  got  them  all.  When  about 
leaving  Madras  I  wished  to  make  a  present  to  an 
under  broker,  who  had  transacted  my  business, 
and  who  had  given  me  several  pieces  of  thin 
goods.  I  observed  to  him  that  I  knew  of  nothing 
that  would  be  more  acceptable  to  him  than  a 
watch,  and  I  accordingly  gave  him  one  of  my 
silver  watches,  with  which  he  appeared  very  much 
pleased.  When  I  returned  home  I  took  the  two 
remaining  watches  to  a  watch  maker  to  be 
cleaned.  When  they  were  done  I  asked  him 
what  they  were  worth.  "Seven  or  eight  dollars," 
was  his  reply,  and  he  agreed  to  take  one  of  them 
at  that  price.  The  other  I  gave  to  my  brother 
Benjamin,2  who  was  then  in  college,  and  was 
needing  a  watch.  My  next  watch  operation  was 
in  July,  1802,  at  Manila,  where  I  employed  a  Mr. 

1  "Capt.  Moses  Townsend  was  a  shipmaster  and  after- 
wards President  of  the  Union  Marine  Insurance  Company. 
He  died  Feb.  14,  1843,  aged  eighty-two  years." — E.  I.  Hist. 
Coll.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  177. 

2  Benjamin  Ropes  Nichols,  born  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
March  18,  1786,  died  in  Boston,  April  30,  1848.     He  married 
Mary,  daughter  of  Col.  Timothy  Pickering.     They  had  five 
daughters  and  one  son. — Ed. 


WATCH    STORY  87 

Kerr,  to  assist  me  in  my  business.  He  took  a 
great  fancy  to  my  watch  and  proposed  giving  me 
his  watch  with  some  indigo  to  boot  in  exchange 
for  it,  and  we  finally  fixed  upon  a  quintal  and  a 
half,  worth  then  more  than  $160,  and  I  retained 
my  chain  and  seals.  This  indigo  I  afterwards 
sold  for  $130  more  than  the  original  cost  of  my 
watch,  besides  getting  a  watch,  which  proved  a 
better  timepiece  than  mine  had  been.  Some 
twelve  years  or  more  after  this  I  was  in  company 
with  Capt.  William  Lander1  of  Salem,  when  he 
took  from  his  pocket  a  gold  watch.  "Oh,"  said 
I,  "That  watch  looks  exactly  like  the  one  I  sold 
to  Mr.  Kerr  in  Manila."  "Oh,"  said  Mr.  Lander, 
"I  know  the  whole  history  of  that  watch.  I  was 
in  Manila  after  you  left,  when  Mr.  Kerr  told  me 
that  he  had  sold  your  watch  to  a  sea  captain  from 
New  York  or  Philadelphia,  and  that  he,  the  cap- 
tain, afterwards,  when  passing  Agulhas  Bank, 
near  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  accidentally  lost  it 
overboard.  Two  or  three  days  after,  as  another 
vessel  was  passing  the  Banks,  one  of  the  crew 
caught  a  fish,  and  upon  opening  it  he  found  a  gold 
watch.  He  carried  it  to  Calcutta  and  then  sold 
it,  I  believe,  to  Capt.  Blackler  of  Marblehead." 

i  Captain  William  Lander  was  the  son  of  Peter  Lander, 
and  was  a  native  of  Salem.  He  was  a  sea  captain  and  a 
man  very  highly  esteemed  in  the  community.  He  married 
Miss  Mary  Jenks  and  was  the  father  of  a  large  family. 
One  of  his  sons  was  William  Lander,  the  father  of  the 
Misses  Lucy  and  Helen  Lander  of  Washington  and 
Danvers. — Ed. 


88  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

This  is  Capt.  Lander's  story,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  watch  taken  from  the  fish  was  the  same 
that  Mr.  Kerr  had  from  me. 

I  would  here  observe  as  regards  sailors  gen- 
erally that  I  found  them  a  much  better  class  of 
people  than  I  had  supposed  them  to  be ;  very  kind- 
hearted,  very  generous  and  very  easily  governed 
if  one  treats  them  kindly.  It  will  not  do  to  treat 
them  with  familiarity;  if  you  do  they  will  take 
advantage  of  it,  as  any  ignorant  person  will.  I 
had  very  strict  regulations  with  regard  to  cleanli- 
ness, consequently  my  men  were  seldom  sick, 
never  very  sick,  but  if,  at  any  time,  they  were 
indisposed,  I  nursed  them  with  as  much  care  as 
I  should  my  own  children.  Whenever  they  had 
leisure  to  read,  as  they  often  had  in  a  long  voyage, 
I  was  always  ready  to  lend  them  my  books,  pro- 
vided they  would  promise  to  use  them  carefully, 
and  I  was  ever  ready  to  give  them  any  nautical 
information  in  my  power.  The  first  voyage  I 
made,  after  I  was  master,  I  imprudently  took 
several  men  who  were  much  older  than  I  was, 
and  who  had  been  with  me  when  I  was  super- 
cargo, consequently  they  expected  to  have  their 
own  way.  But  I  commenced  by  showing  them 
that  I  was  to  be  captain,  and  by  firmly  pursuing 
this  course  I  got  along  without  trouble.  When 
starting  on  my  second  voyage  as  master,  I  called 
my  men  around  me  and  thus  addressed  them: 
"Now,  my  men,  I  begin  fair  with  you.  If  you  do 
your  duty  faithfully  and  cheerfully,  you  shall  say 


WATCH    STORY  89 

at  the  end  of  the  voyage  that  it  has  been  the 
pleasantest  you  ever  made,  but  if  you  are  unfaith- 
ful, I  will  feed  you  on  shavings  and  sawdust." 
They  were  a  fine  looking  set  of  men  and  proved 
themselves  a  very  good  crew.  When  making 
preparations  for  my  last  voyage  I  shipped  among 
others  a  large,  powerful  looking  man  by  the  name 
of  John  Bunyan.  Soon  after  Mr.  Webb,  formerly 
mate  of  the  "Active,"  called  and  asked  me  if  I 
intended  taking  that  man  with  me,  calling  him  by 
name.  "Why,"  said  he,  "he  is  the  worst  man  I 
ever  knew  aboard  a  vessel.  I  sailed  with  him 
from  England  and  I  expected  he  would  have  got 
charge  of  the  vessel  before  we  arrived."  Not- 
withstanding what  Mr.  W—  -  told  me,  I  deter- 
mined to  carry  him,  for  I  was  too  high  spirited  to 
dismiss  him  for  such  a  reason  after  I  had  engaged 
him.  After  we  had  got  out  to  sea  I  called  the 
ship's  officers  around  me,  according  to  practice. 
I  then  related  to  them  what  I  had  heard  about 
Bunyan  and  desired  them  to  watch  him  narrowly, 
not  to  strike  him  except  for  insolence,  but  for  that 
I  would  allow  them  to  knock  him  down.  The 
following  day  when  I  ordered  him  to  do  some- 
thing, he  turned  upon  me  an  eye  which  reminded 
me  more  of  a  black  snake  than  of  anything  which 
I  could  think  of.  There  was  an  air  of  hesitation 
about  him  which  seemed  to  say,  "I  don't  know 
whether  to  obey  you  or  not."  "You  rascal, 
move,"  said  I  in  a  most  resolute  tone.  This  had 
the  desired  effect  and  in  a  few  days  he  was  an 


90  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

altered  man,  and  his  manner  was  so  completely 
subdued  that  I  was  never  obliged  after  this  to 
speak  harshly  to  him.  He  was  the  smartest  man 
on  board, — worth  two  common  men  in  an 
emergency. 

The  following  quaint  ballad  was  sung  by  one 
of  the  sailors  from  "down  east"  to  cheer  the  men 
when  the  ship  was  becalmed,  and  it  never  failed 
of  its  purpose. 

SWEET  WILLIAM. 

Sweet  William,  he  married  a  wife, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
To  be  the  sweet  comfort  of  his  life, 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

Jenny  couldn't  card,  nor  Jenny  couldn't  spin, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
For  fear  of  hurting  her  gay  gold  ring, 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

Jenny  couldn't  brew,  nor  Jenny  couldn't  bake, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
For  fear  of  soiling  her  white  apron  tape, 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

Jenny  couldn't  into  the  kitchen  to  go, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
For  fear  of  hurting  her  high-heeled  shoe, 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

Sweet  William  came  whistling  in  from  plaow, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
And  "Oh,  my  dear  wife,  is  my  dinner  ready  naow?" 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

She  called  him  a  dirty,  paltry  whelp, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
"If  you  want  any  dinner,  go  get  it  yourself." 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 


WATCH    STORY  91 

Then  to  the  sheepfold  quickly  he  did  go, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
And  out  a  fat  wether  from  there  did  pull, 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

Then  down  on  his  knees  he  began  for  to  stick, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
And  from  the  sheep's  back  the  skin  did  strip, 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

He  laid  the  skin  upon  his  wife's  back, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
And  with  a  good  stick  he  went  whicketty  whack, 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

"I'll  tell  my  fayther  and  all  me  kin," 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
"How  still  the  quarrel  you've  begun." 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

"You  may  tell  your  fayther  and  all  your  kin," 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
"How  I  have  thrashed  my  fat  wether's  skin," 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

Sweet  William  came  whistling  in  from  plaow, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
And  "Oh,  my  dear  wife,  is  my  dinner  ready  naow?" 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

She  drew  her  table  and  spread  her  board, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
And  "Oh,  my  dear  husband,"  was  every  word, 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

And  now  they  live  free  from  all  care  and  all  strife, 

Gentle  Jenny,  cried  Rose  Marie, 
And  now  she  makes  William  a  very  good  wife, 

As  the  dew  flies  over  the  mulberry  tree. 

It  was  the  practice  in  those  days  when  crossing 
the  line,  if  there  were  any  green  hands  aboard  to 
play  tricks  upon  them.  The  first  voyage  I  made 
with  Capt.  Swett  we  had  a  man  aboard  named 


92  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

John  Killam,  a  mean,  contemptible  country  fel- 
low, whom  the  sailors  all  despised,  and  as  they 
drew  near  the  line  they  determined  to  show  their 
contempt  for  him  by  a  rougher  treatment  than 
was  usual  at  such  times.  Accordingly,  the  most 
humorous  one  among  them  covered  himself  with 
old  mats,  and  with  a  swab,  some  two  or  three 
feet  long,  all  dripping  wet  as  if  directly  out  of  the 
water,  suspended  from  his  head.  Thus  decked 
out  in  imitation  of  Neptune,  he  came  on  deck 
and  addressing  the  sailors  asked  if  any  of  his 
children  were  aboard.  "Oh,  yes,  there  is  one," 
pointing  to  John.  "I  am  very  glad  to  see  you," 
says  Neptune,  catching  hold  of  him  and  at  the 
same  time  throwing  a  bucket  of  dirty  water  over 
him.  Bucket  after  bucket  of  water  was  poor  John 
obliged  to  receive,  until  at  last  he  was  completely 
drenched.  Then  he  must  be  shaved,  and  instead 
of  a  razor  they  took  a  piece  of  an  old  iron  hoop 
to  shave  him  with.  Last  of  all  Neptune  said  his 
wife  was  very  fond  of  cheese,  and  John's  chest 
was  ransacked  and  a  cheese  which  he  had  kept 
carefully  concealed  for  his  own  private  use,  was 
found  and  brought  forth.  Thus  did  they  con- 
tinue to  torment  him  for  two  or  three  hours,  until 
at  last  his  patience  was  well  nigh  exhausted. 
While  Neptune  was  preparing  to  come  aboard  I 
was  below,  but  unseen  by  any  one  I  managed  to 
get  out  of  the  cabin  window  and  climb  up  the  side 
of  the  vessel  and  was  on  deck  to  receive  him  with 
the  rest.  This  was  looked  upon  as  quite  a  dex- 


WATCH    STORY     .  93 

terous  feat  and  a  pretty  dangerous  one,  too.  As 
I  was  a  green  hand  it  was  necessary  that  I  should 
conform  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  so  I  submit- 
ted to  the  trifling  inconvenience  of  having  a 
bucket  or  two  of  clear,  cold  water  dashed  over 
me. 

The  life  of  a  sailor  I  found  to  be  a  life  of  great 
fatigue  and  anxiety.  Many  sleepless  nights  is  the 
captain  of  a  vessel  obliged  to  pass  through. 
When  going  through  the  Straits  of  Malacca, 
where  the  navigation  was  very  intricate,  I  was  on 
deck  most  of  the  time  for  sixteen  days  and  nights, 
only  sleeping  an  hour  or  two  in  twenty-four. 

Before  closing  the  account  of  my  seafaring  life, 
I  would  mention  what  has  often  appeared  to  my 
friends  a  proof  of  a  strong  memory,  that  I  can 
recall  the  names  of  all  the  men  who  have  ever 
sailed  with  me,  both  before  and  after  I  was  mas- 
ter, and  the  names,  too,  of  all  the  persons  with 
whom  I  did  business  abroad. 

While  absent  on  my  last  voyage  my  oldest  child, 
Sally,  was  born.  My  wife  was  very  sick  at  the 
time,  and  was,  for  some  time,  hi  a  very  critical 
state.  My  father  purchased  for  me  the  house  on 
Federal  Street,  built  and  then  occupied  by  Aunt 
Leach,1  and  in  late  years  occupied  by  Deacon 


i  "Ruth,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Ropes,  born  in  1761,  died 
in  1850.  She  married  John  Leach,  born  in  Salem,  1747, 
died  October,  1804,  at  sea.  He  was  a  master  mariner,  and 
commanded  several  private  armed  vessels  during  the 
Revolutionary  war."— E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  91. 


94  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

Punchard.  My  sister  Lydia1  had  recently  been 
married  and  she  took  the  western  end  of  the 
house  and  I  took  the  eastern.  I  soon  engaged  in 
commerce  with  my  brother-in-law,  Benjamin 
Peirce,  and  I  was  also  concerned  in  the  "Active" 
with  my  father  for  several  voyages.  We  were 
generally  prospered  in  business  and  when  the  war 
broke  out  in  1812  I  was  quite  a  rich  man  for  those 
times,  being  worth  at  least  $40,000.  This  was  a 
very  disastrous  war  to  me.  I  lost  in  it  nearly  one- 
half  of  all  my  property,  notwithstanding  I  had  a 
great  deal  of  insurance.  Every  vessel  in  which 
I  was  concerned  was  captured.  Among  them 
was  the  "Rambler,"  a  beautiful  vessel,  owned  by 
my  brother  Peirce  and  myself.  She  was  making 
a  fine  voyage,  but  she  was  taken  by  the  British, 
off  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Privateering  was 
very  common  in  that  war,  as  in  all  wars,  but  I 
could  not  feel  it  to  be  right  and  therefore  did  not 
engage  in  it.  At  the  close  of  the  war  in  1815,  I 
engaged  again  in  commerce  with  Benjamin  Peirce 
and  others,  and  for  several  years  affairs  went  on 
somewhat  prosperously.  Then  came  on  a  long 
series  of  disasters,  ruinous  voyages  were  made, 
the  effect  of  bad  management,  and  in  1826  I  found 
myself  bankrupt,  as  were  also  my  father  Peirce, 

i  "Lydia  Ropes  Nichols,  born  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  Jan. 
3,  1781,  married  her  cousin,  Benjamin  Peirce,  Dec.  11,  1803. 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1831,  he  was  librarian  of 
Harvard  College  and  author  of  the  Catalogue  of  the 
Library." — Peirce  Genealogy. 


Drawing  room  door  opening  into  the  hall.     Noted  for  the 
wonderful  delicacy  of  its  carving  and  purity  of  style. 


WATCH    STORY  95 

and  his  two  sons.  No  sooner  had  I  discovered 
the  state  of  my  pecuniary  affairs,  than  I  deter- 
mined to  stop  payment  (notwithstanding  the 
earnest  solicitation  of  some  of  my  friends  to  the 
contrary)  and  divided  my  property  equally  among 
my  creditors.  And  now  I  must  begin  life  again, 
with  nothing  to  look  to  but  my  own  resources. 
My  situation,  I  felt,  was  a  sad  one,  reduced  as  I 
had  been  in  a  few  years  from  affluence  to  com- 
plete destitution.  Still,  I  kept  up  a  good  heart 
and  felt  confident  that  if  my  life  and  health  were 
spared  I  should  still  be  able  to  support  my  family 
comfortably.  When  my  minister,  Mr.  Colman, 
came  to  sympathize  with  me  he  inquired  of  me 
what  I  intended  doing  for  a  support.  "I  never 
felt  less  anxiety  in  my  life,"  was  my  reply  to  him. 
"The  Being  who  gave  me  my  children  will  assur- 
edly take  care  of  me  and  of  them  if  we  only  strive 
to  do  our  duty."  "Captain  Nichols,  I  envy  you," 
said  he.  My  friends  frequently  questioned  me 
about  my  business  plans.  I  told  them  I  meant  to 
consider  well  for  a  few  days  what  I  had  best  do, 
and  having  made  up  my  mind  nothing  but  death 
should  prevent  me  from  persevering  in  that 
business,  whatever  it  might  be.  I  soon  decided 
to  engage  in  the  auction  and  brokerage  business. 
My  earnings  for  the  first  few  weeks  were  very 
small,  hardly  sufficient  to  pay  for  my  shoe  leather, 
but  I  persevered  and  at  the  close  of  the  first  year 
I  not  only  paid  my  family  expenses,  but  had  some- 


96  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

thing  left  besides.  I  have  many  times  walked  to 
Boston  when  fifty  years  old  and  upward  to  attend 
auction  sales,  and  returned  the  same  day.  My 
business  increased  rapidly  every  year  and  in  the 
course  of  fifteen  years  I  paid  my  own  creditors 
about  $10,000.  I  can  now,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years,  truly  say  that  my  change  of  fortune  has 
proved  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  of  my  life. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  beautiful  smile  upon  my 
wife's  countenance,  when  I  told  her  that  I  was  a 
bankrupt.  Said  she,  "Is  that  all?  I  feared  from 
your  manner  that  you  had  something  dreadful  to 
communicate."  My  misfortunes  were  not  the 
result  of  any  extravagance  in  her.  On  the  con- 
trary, she  had  ever  been  a  great  economist,  and 
many  a  yard  of  nice  cambric  and  muslin  sent 
home  by  me  for  her  own  use  has  she  sold, 
because,  as  she  said,  she  would  not  indulge  in 
luxuries  while  her  husband  was  ploughing  the 
deep.  The  first  voyage  I  made  after  our  mar- 
riage I  put  $600  in  her  hands  and  desired  her 
when  that  was  gone  to  call  upon  my  father  for 
more,  as  I  had  left  with  him  a  large  sum  of  money 
for  her  benefit.  When  I  got  home,  after  an 
absence  of  about  twenty  months,  she  returned  to 
me  from  $600,  $140  or  more,  and  she  had  paid 
house  rent  and  had  boarded  in  Andover  a  part  of 
the  time.  A  decanter  of  wine  which  I  had  left  in 
the  closet,  I  found  in  the  same  spot,  and  it  was 
about  as  full  as  when  I  left  it.  After  my  failure 


WATCH    STORY  97 

she  kept  one  year  an  account  of  her  personal 
expenses,  but  the  sum  was  so  small,  only  $7.50, 
that  she  thought  it  not  worth  while  to  take  the 
trouble  of  doing  it  after  that. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

GLIMPSES  INTO  HIS  HOME  LIFE 

My  grandfather's  narrative  closes  with  the 
year  1841,  when  he  was  sixty-three  year  old. 
Beyond  the  days  of  his  childhood,  and  a  few  im- 
portant incidents  in  his  young  manhood,  he  has 
not  given  many  glimpses  of  his  home  life,  which 
I  shall  try  in  a  measure  to  supply,  in  the  hope  that 
they  may  be  of  interest. 

During  the  period  of  my  grandfather's  greatest 
prosperity,  when,  as  he  said,  he  was  quite  a  rich 
man,  "being  worth  at  least  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars," he  was  living  in  the  house  on  Federal 
Street,  No.  116,  referred  to  by  him.  There,  in 
the  eastern  end,  were  born  three  daughters,  the 
oldest  "Sally,"  (Sarah  Peirce,  whom  he  men- 
tioned) and  two  named  Lydia,  the  first  only  living 
three  days.  In  1808  or  1809,  his  sister,  Mrs. 
Benjamin  Peirce,  moved  from  the  western  end  to 
the  Tontine  Block  on  Warren  Street,  and  there, 
on  April  4th,  1809,  the  noted  mathematician, 
Benjamin  Peirce,  was  born.  In  that  year,  my 
grandfather  moved  into  the  western  end,  vacated 

98 


GLIMPSES  INTO  HIS  HOME  LIFE       99 

by  his  sister,  and  there  two  sons,  George1  in  1809, 
and  John2  in  1811,  first  saw  the  light  of  day. 

Life  was  full  of  interest  to  my  grandfather  at 
that  time.  He  was  keenly  alive  to  the  needs  of 
the  town,  political,  business  and  social.  In  1805 
he  was  one  of  a  number  of  gentlemen  who  formed 
a  corporation  to  build  Hamilton  Hall,  on  the 
corner  of  Chestnut  and  Cambridge  Streets,  for  an 
assembly  hall.  Samuel  Mclntire  was  the  archi- 
tect. Here  Lafayette  was  entertained  in  1825, 
and  many  other  eminent  men  have  been  honored 
guests,  while  from  its  foundation  the  culture, 
wealth  and  beauty  of  Salem  have  gathered  here 
for  their  choicest  festivities.  Great  grandchil- 
dren of  the  founders  still  dance  in  that  beautiful 
hall  and  take  the  same  delight  in  it  as  did 
their  forebears,  while  the  dignified  building  looks 
as  if  it  might  stand  for  centuries  to  come. 

In  1811  he  bought  land  on  Chestnut  Street  of 
Benjamin  Lander,3  between  the  estates  of 
Thomas  Sanders  and  Samuel  Putnam,  Esq.,4  but 

1  George  Nichols,  the  oldest  son  of  George  and  Sarah 
Peirce  Nichols  was  educated  for  the  Unitarian  ministry. 
He  did  not  follow  his  profession  however,  but  turned  his 
attention  to  literary  criticism  and  became  one  of  the  finest 
critics  of  his  day.    He  died  at  Cambridge,  July  6,  1882. 

2  John  H.  Nichols,  the  second  son,  was  associated  with 
his   father   in   the   real    estate,   brokerage    and    insurance 
business.     He  died  in  Salem  Nov.  16th  1898. 

3  "Son  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  Luscomb  Lander,  born 
1763,  died  1816."— Essex  Inst.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  3,  p.  177. 

<  "Samuel  Putnam,  son  of  Deacon  Gideon  Putnam  of 
Danvers,  born  April  3rd,  1768,  died  in  Somerville,  July  3rd, 


100  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

he  did  not  build  the  brick  house  No.  37  until  after 
the  close  of  the  war  of  1812  to  1815.  I  have  often 
heard  him  say  that  he  watched  the  workmen  with 
great  interest  until  they  reached  the  top  of  the 
chimneys,  then  he  said  to  them,  "Now  you  may 
cheat  as  much  as  you  please." 

With  the  land  on  Chestnut  Street  in  his  posses- 
sion, and  the  prospect  of  building  in  the  near 
future,  it  would  seem  that  my  grandfather  might 
have  been  contented  to  remain  in  Federal  Street, 
but  to  his  mind  circumstances  favored  another 
move  to  the  eastern  end  of  the  house  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Monroe  and  Essex  Streets,  where  two  more 
daughters  and  a  third  son1  were  born. 

In  1816  he  moved  into  the  house  on  Chestnut 
Street  with  his  wife  and  seven  children.  On 
Christmas  Eve,  1819,  his  fourth  son  and  youngest 
child  was  born.2 

Ten  happy  years  followed,  with  a  devoted  wife 
and  eight  children.  Even  the  domestic  machin- 
ery ran  smoothly,  as  my  grandfather  paid  the 
highest  prices  for  service,  a  dollar  and  a  half  a 

1853.  A  prominent  lawyer  in  Salem,  afterwards  appointed 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  Massachusetts. 
He  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  John  and  Lois  Pickering 
Gool,  a  niece  of  Col.  Timothy  Pickering.  He  lived  in  the 
old  Assembly  house  on  Federal  Street.  In  1833  he  re- 
moved to  Boston."— E.  I.  Hist.  Col.,  Vol.  XV,  p.  291. 

1  Henry  Peirce  Nichols,  the  third  son,  was  born  in  Salem 
Sept.  2nd,  1816,  died  in  Boston  Dec.  21st,  1889.     He  was  a 
publisher  of  the  firm  of  Crosby  &  Nichols. 

2  Charles  Sanders  Nichols  was  born  Dec.  24th,  1819,  died 
March  5th,  1900.    He  was  associated  in  business  with  his 
father  and  his  brother,  John  H.  Nichols. 


GLIMPSES  INTO  HIS  HOME  LIFE     101 

week  to  the  cook  and  seventy-five  cents  to  the 
second  maid,  to  women  who  stayed  for  years 
because  they  were  happy  in  their  home  and  sat- 
isfied with  their  wages. 

In  1824  my  grandfather  withdrew  from  the 
North  Church,  and  with  others  from  that  Society 
and  the  First  Church,  founded  the  Fourth 
Unitarian  Church  in  Salem,  which  took  the  name 
of  the  Independent  Congregational  Society  in 
Barton  Square.  The  cause  for  the  separation 
was  the  desire  to  have  Rev.  Henry  Colman1  for 
their  pastor. 

During  this  period  the  oldest  daughter,  Sarah 
Peirce,  was  very  delicate,  suffering  from  what 
would  now  be  called  a  nervous  breakdown.  She 
was  sent  to  Cambridge  to  a  noted  specialist,  who 
pursued  heroic  methods,  with  happy  results. 
Horse-back  riding  was  at  once  prescribed,  which 
was  a  mild  form  of  exercise  compared  to  long 
drives  in  a  wagon  without  springs,  and  walks  of 
twenty  miles  a  day.  The  practice  of  walking  was 
kept  up  by  my  aunt  for  more  than  fifty  years,  to 
the  time  of  her  death,  within  three  months  of 
seventy-five  years.  Of  course  the  number  of 

i  "Rev.  Henry  Colman,  born  at  Boston,  Sept.  12,  1785, 
graduated  from  Dartmouth  College,  1805.  He  studied  for 
the  ministry,  and  was  ordained  at  Hingham  in  1807. 
Installed  in  Salem  1825,  and  preached  there  until  1831. 

"The  remainder  of  his  life  was  devoted  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  His  writings  on  the  subject  had  an  extended 
circulation.  He  married  in  1807  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Harris  of  Charlestown,  Mass.  He  died  at  Islington,  Eng- 
land, in  1849."— E.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  XV,  p.  298. 


102  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

miles  a  day  were  diminished  with  increasing  age, 
but  within  a  few  weeks  of  her  death  she  made  her 
six  miles  daily,  the  sum  total  amounting  to 
147,000  miles. 

Social  life  was  beginning  in  1825  for  the  second 
daughter,  Lydia,  then  eighteen  years  old,  and  the 
mother's  thrift  was  shown  when  she  had  her 
beautiful  wedding  dress  of  India  muslin,  of  which 
my  grandfather  has  written,  made  hi  to  the  dainty 
creation  still  in  existence.  The  young  Lydia 
fashioned  with  her  delicate  hands  the  garlands 
of  white  roses  and  green  leaves,  and  the  white 
satin  rolls  that  trimmed  it.  That  dress  may  have 
been  made  in  time  for  the  ball  at  Mrs.  Samuel 
Endicott's1  given  in  the  beautiful,  spacious  room 
which  Mr.  Endicott2  had  added  to  his  house  for 
the  benefit  of  his  young  daughter  just  entering 
society.  In  my  young  girlhood,  my  Aunt  used  to 
tell  me  of  that  ball  she  attended. 

Late  in  life,  at  the  request  of  a  friend,  in  writing 
her  reminiscences  of  Chestnut  Street  and  of  the 
parties  in  her  youth,  she  said  they  were  more 
simple  and  social  than  those  of  the  present  time. 

Occasionally,  when  her  mother  invited  all  her 
neighbors  to  tea,  the  children  were  sent  around 

1  "Mrs.  Samuel  Endicott.     Her  maiden  name  was  Eliza- 
beth  Putnam;    daughter  of  William   Putnam   of   Stirling, 
Mass.     She   married   Mr.   Endicott,   May   1794." — Endicott 
Family  Record. 

2  Mr.    Samuel   Endicott   was    the   grandfather   of   Hon. 
William    Crowninshield    Endicott,    Secretary    of    War    in 
President    Cleveland's    administration.    He    lived    at    359 
Essex  Street,  Salem,  Mass. — Ed. 


GLIMPSES  INTO   HIS  HOME  LIFE     103 

the  day  before  the  proposed  party  with  verbal 
invitations.  Then  her  mother  went  into  the 
kitchen  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  two  ser- 
vants she  made  several  kinds  of  very  nice  cake. 

When  the  hour  for  tea  arrived,  the  maids  served 
bread  and  butter  and  biscuits  with  tea  on  large 
trays  to  the  guests  in  the  parlor,  followed  by  the 
cake,  which  was  passed  until  everyone  was 
satisfied. 

Conversation  was  the  order  of  the  evening,  and 
at  ten  o'clock  refreshments  were  again  passed, 
consisting  of  different  kinds  of  fruit,  blanc- 
mange, whips,  etc.  Soon  after,  the  guests  took 
their  leave. 

For  the  older  daughters,  during  the  Winter 
college  vacations,  the  same  course  was  pursued, 
followed  by  dancing,  to  which  her  father  reluc- 
tantly consented,  as  he  was  very  much  opposed 
to  music  and  dancing  in  a  private  house,  and  not 
having  a  piano,  a  colored  man  was  hired  to  play 
on  a  violin. 

Even  at  that  time  clouds  were  gathering  on  my 
grandfather's  financial  horizon,  and  in  1826  the 
storm  burst.  The  heavy  financial  losses  in  1826, 
which  my  grandfather  bore  so  bravely,  fell  cruelly 
on  my  grandmother's  father,  Jerathmiel  Peirce, 
then  in  his  eightieth  year.  In  1782  he  had  built 
the  Colonial  house,  now  No.  80  Federal  Street. 
At  that  time  it  was  called  the  New  Street,  which 
was  laid  out  across  private  land  from  1765  to 
1769,  and  did  not  take  the  name  of  Federal  Street 


104  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

until  1794.  At  that  period  the  name  ended  at 
North  Street,  the  portion  between  North  and 
Washington  Streets  was  Marlborough,  and  from 
Washington  to  St.  Peter  Streets  was  County  Street. 
The  change  to  one  name,  Federal  Street,  the 
entire  length,  was  not  made  until  1853.  This 
house  designed  by  Samuel  Mclntire  was  the  pride 
and  joy  of  my  great-grandfather's  heart  during 
the  forty-five  years  that  he  lived  there. 

The  terraced  garden  at  the  back  of  the  house 
extended  to  the  North  River,  which  at  that  time 
was  deep  enough  to  float  his  vessels  as  they 
returned  laden  from  the  East  Indies.  The  ware- 
house was  on  the  estate  at  the  side  of  the  garden 
and  was  removed  only  a  few  years  ago. 

On  June  23rd,  1827,  the  house  was  sold  to  Mr. 
George  Johonnot,1  a  friend  of  the  family. 

Many  of  the  beautiful  pieces  of  furniture,  china 
and  silver  were  scattered  and  my  great-grand- 
father with  his  daughter  Betsey  went  to  live  with 
my  grandfather,  George  Nichols,  in  the  western 
end  of  the  Tontine  Block  on  Warren  Street. 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  my  great-grand- 
father, Jerathmael  Peirce,  and  my  grandfather, 

i  "Mr.  George  Stuart  Johonnot,  of  Huguenot  descent, 
fourth  child  of  Francis  and  Mary  Johnson  Johonnot  of 
Boston.  Born  Nov.  23rd,  1756;  died  at  Salem,  1839,  aged 
83  years,  a  merchant.  He  married  a  widow  of  Joseph 
Grafton,  whose  maiden  name  was  Martha  Elkins." — New 
England  Hist,  and  Genealogical  Register,  Vol.  7,  p.  144. 

Miss  Martha  Elkins  married  first,  William  Pynchon,  son 
of  Judge  Pynchon;  second,  Joseph  Grafton,  and  third, 
George  S.  Johonnot.  She  was  the  sister  of  Mrs.  Thomas 
Sanders  of  Salem. — Ed. 


GLIMPSES  INTO  HIS  HOME  LIFE     105 

George  Nichols,  at  the  time  of  their  reverses, 
should  each  have  been  living  in  a  house  built  for 
himself,  and  in  which  he  took  great  pride.  To 
the  older  man,  then  in  his  eighty-first  year, 
already  a  victim  of  serious  heart  trouble,  the 
strain  of  leaving  his  beautiful  home,  where  he  had 
always  welcomed  his  friends  with  such  gracious 
hospitality,  was  too  much  for  him.  Only  once 
after  he  had  left  his  home,  did  he  pass  it,  and  on 
August  20th  he  died.  My  grandfather  George 
Nichols,  however,  was  made  happy  when  in  1845 
the  house  at  37  Chestnut  Street  came  into  the 
family  again  through  his  son  John,  who  bought 
it  in  that  year. 

My  grandfather  was  stimulated  by  his  loss  to 
greater  activity,  for  during  the  years  that  he  was 
a  merchant  there  had  been  leisure  for  him  to 
develop  a  certain  mechanical  ingenuity,  and  he 
interested  himself  in  making  buff-colored  leather 
trunks  for  several  of  his  children,  with  their  ini- 
tials, and  often  a  date  in  brass  nails  on  the  cover, 
surrounded  by  an  oval  of  brass  nails.  When  he 
wearied  of  trunks,  he  turned  his  attention  to  band 
boxes  of  various  sizes  and  shapes,  covered  with 
wall  paper,  his  final  achievement  being  a  round 
box  two  feet  in  diameter,  large  enough  for  a 
Leghorn  flat. 

All  these  pleasant  diversions  had  to  be  laid 
aside  when  the  changed  circumstances  brought 
him  face  to  face  with  poverty,  but  he  met  the 
situation,  as  we  have  seen,  without  flinching, 


106  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

while  he  felt  the  loss  keenly  for  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren, the  oldest,  the  invalid  daughter  of  twenty- 
three,  the  youngest  a  boy  of  seven.  The  oldest 
son,  George,  was  in  Harvard,  and  the  second  son, 
John,  at  fifteen  was  prepared  to  enter  college, 
with  the  hope  that  later  he  would  make  the  law 
his  profession.  That  hope  had  to  be  abandoned, 
but  it  was  done  without  a  murmur,  and  he  entered 
his  father's  employ  as  a  clerk.  In  fact,  my  grand- 
mother and  all  her  children,  so  far  as  they  were 
able,  rose  to  the  occasion  with  a  courage  born  of 
a  Puritan  ancestry.  The  second  daughter,  Lydia, 
at  once  opened  a  school  for  children,  and  a  few 
years  later  she  was  joined  by  her  younger  sister, 
Elizabeth,  who  at  the  time  of  the  failure  was  only 
thirteen  years  old.  At  that  time,  my  grandfather's 
youngest  brother,  Rev.  Ichabod  Nichols,  D.  D. 
of  Portland,  invited  the  child  to  make  her  home 
with  him  and  his  wife  for  a  few  years,  offering  to 
educate  her  at  his  expense.  The  invitation  was 
gratefully  accepted  by  the  father,  and  the  young 
girl  had  a  very  happy  home  at  her  uncle's,  where 
she  made  life-long  friends. 

The  winter  of  1828  saw  another  change  in  the 
home,  to  the  eastern  end  of  Dr.  Abel  Peirson's1 
house  in  Barton  Square,  where  the  family  lived 
for  several  years,  until  the  accommodations  being 
insufficient,  my  grandfather  took  the  house  on  the 

i  Dr.  Abel  Peirson  was  one  of  the  noted  physicians  of 
his  day  in  Salem.  He  was  the  grandfather  of  the  present 
Dr.  Edward  S.  Peirson  of  Salem. — Ed. 


GLIMPSES  INTO   HIS  HOME  LIFE     107 

corner  of  Federal  and  Beckford  Streets,  which  his 
father  had  bought  in  1833. 

Great  Grandfather  Ichabod  seemed  to  have  a 
fancy  for  investing  in  real  estate,  as  we  read  in  the 
Town  Records  of  land  bought  by  him  in  the  Great 
Pastures  at  various  periods,  in  North  Salem  and 
South  Salem,  in  Salem  proper,  on  Union  Wharf 
and  Boston  Street;  no  part  of  the  town  escaped 
him.  So  far  as  I  can  discover,  the  house  on  the 
corner  of  Beckford  Street  was  his  last  venture  in 
real  estate,  as  he  was  then  eighty-four  years  old. 

The  great  sorrow  of  my  grandfather's  life  came 
to  him  when  he  was  living  in  this  house.  My 
grandmother  died  on  June  22nd,  1835,  after  an 
illness  of  a  few  days.  Soon  after  this  death,  the 
family  who  remained  wrent  to  Washington  Street 
near  Barton  Square  to  take  care  of  the  Grand- 
father Ichabod,  whose  wife  had  died  in  February 
1835.  This  arrangement  did  not  last  long,  and 
the  summer  of  1836  found  my  grandfather,  his 
four  daughters  and  at  least  his  youngest  son, 
back  again  in  Beckford  Street.  In  September  of 
that  year,  he  married  his  sister-in-law  Betsey 
Peirce,  who  had  had  her  romance  in  her  youth, 
but  remained  unmarried  until  past  middle  life. 

In  1840  came  a  great  change.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Johonnot,  who  had  bought  the  house  No.  80 
Federal  Street,  died  within  a  short  time  of  each 
other,  leaving  it  by  their  wills  to  my  grandfather 
and  grandmother  during  their  lives,  and  to  the 
four  daughters  outright  after  their  parents'  death. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
WITH  THE  GRANDCHILDREN 

In  the  autumn  of  1840  my  grandfather  made 
his  last  move  to  the  house  No.  80  Federal  Street, 
where  as  a  young  man  he  had  passed  so  many 
happy  hours,  where  he  married  his  first  wife,  and 
his  second  wife  was  born. 

At  that  time  he  had  five  granddaughters,  the 
children  of  his  sons  George  and  John,  the  oldest 
five  years  old,  the  youngest  only  a  few  months. 
The  only  grandson,  my  oldest  brother,  a  beautiful 
child  of  four  years,  had  died  the  previous  August. 
He  was  naturally  a  great  pet  with  his  grandfather, 
one  of  those  rare  children  like  little  Waldo  Emer- 
son, whom  his  father,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson, 
portrayed  so  pathetically  hi  that  wonderful  poem, 
"Threnody."  Many  of  the  incidents  and  charac- 
teristics in  the  lives  of  the  two  children  being  so 
similar,  the  description  of  one  would  apply  equally 
well  to  the  other. 

This  great  sorrow  my  grandfather  bore  with 
his  usual  fortitude,  and  in  less  than  two  years  joy 
came  to  him  in  the  birth  of  another  grandson, 
named  George  Ropes  Nichols.  He  was  not  a 
strong  boy  and  could  not  bear  the  rough  and 

108 


WITH    THE    GRANDCHILDREN        109 

tumble  life  of  his  companions.  He  had  inherited 
from  his  grandfather  the  love  of  the  sea  and  of 
ships,  and  he  used  to  wander  down  to  the 
wharves,  watch  the  vessels  come  in,  make  a  note 
of  their  names  and  cargoes  and  from  what  ports 
they  had  sailed,  then  with  these  facts  in  hand  he 
would  return  home  and  copy  them  into  books 
kept  for  that  purpose.  This  showed  a  strong 
leaning  towards  a  mercantile  life  in  a  boy  who,  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  was  not  quite  fourteen  years 
old.  He  was  seriously  ill  only  a  few  days,  and  his 
death  came  as  a  crushing  blow  to  my  mother. 
He  was  her  oldest  son  then  living,  and  being 
delicate  he  was  an  especial  object  of  her  care.  I 
well  remember  my  grandfather  coming  to  see  her 
at  that  time,  and  taking  her  hand  in  his,  he  said, 
"The  Lord  gave,  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  bless- 
ed be  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

But  I  must  not  dwell  on  the  sadness,  when 
there  was  so  much  of  joy  in  the  young  life  that 
was  opening  up  around  him.  In  1845  his  young- 
est son,  Charles,  married,  and  in  course  of  years 
two  more  grandsons  and  two  more  granddaugh- 
ters were  made  happy  in  the  grandfather's  home. 
In  all,  there  were  twenty-two  grandchildren,  thir- 
teen granddaughters  and  nine  grandsons, 
although  only  three  of  the  grandsons  lived  to 
maturity,  but  there  were  eleven  granddaughters 
to  gladden  him  through  the  remaining  years  of  his 
life,  and  towards  the  close  a  great-granddaughter 
was  added. 


110  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

Of  course,  the  grandchildren  always  loved  to 
go  to  the  beautiful  old  home,  not  on  account  of  its 
intrinsic  beauty,  as  that  had  to  be  appreciated 
with  increasing  years,  but  it  was  beautiful 
because  it  was  Grandpa's  house. 

One  of  my  earliest  recollections  was  of  a  little 
drawer  in  a  fascinating  secretary  in  the  dining- 
room,  always  kept  filled  with  barley  candy  for  the 
grandchildren.  After  we  had  greeted  our  grand- 
parents and  four  aunts  and  answered  all  their 
questions,  we  sped  rapidly  to  the  dining-room. 
A  magical  fluted  door  with  a  tiny  brass  knob  con- 
cealed the  candy  drawer,  but  with  the  touch  of  a 
finger  the  door  glided  mysteriously  around  the 
corner,  keeping  discreetly  out  of  sight,  while  we 
eagerly  opened  the  right  hand  upper  drawer  and 
took  out  the  pieces  of  candy  we  knew  were  our 
portion.  Another  touch  of  the  knob  and  the  door 
was  back  in  its  place,  keeping  guard  over  our 
treasures  and,  as  we  then  thought,  never  opened 
excepting  on  our  account.  How  often  I  have 
heard  my  grandfather  say  to  my  aunts,  "When 
you  go  out,  be  sure  to  get  some  more  barley  candy 
if  the  drawer  is  not  full." 

But  it  was  not  for  barley  candy  alone  that  we 
went  to  see  Grandpa.  Of  course  we  respected 
him  and  stood  rather  in  awe  of  him  because  he 
was  so  "very  old";  (we  should  say  now  he  was 
only  on  the  verge  of  old  age,  peeping  over  the 
border.)  On  the  other  hand,  he  was  always  so 
good  to  us,  joking  with  us  and  telling  us  stories, 


WITH    THE    GRANDCHILDREN        111 

until  we  almost  felt  he  might  have  been  a  little 
boy  himself,  and  not  only  just  Grandpa. 

He  was  one  of  the  earliest  members  of  the  East 
India  Marine  Society,  having  joined  it  in  1800, 
and  he  cherished  a  love  for  the  institution 
throughout  his  life.  The  Museum  of  the  East 
India  Marine  Society  was  founded  in  1799,  the 
requirements  for  membership  being,  to  have 
doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  or  Cape  Horn  in 
the  capacity  of  captain  or  supercargo. 

Its  treasures  were  first  placed  in  the  third  story 
of  the  Stearns  Building,  on  the  corner  of  Essex 
and  Washington  Streets.  In  1804,  needing  larger 
quarters,  they  were  moved  to  the  second  story 
of  the  Salem  Bank  Building,  in  the  rear  of 
buildings  just  above  St.  Peter  Street,  on  the 
opposite  side.  There  they  remained  until  1824, 
when  the  present  fine  edifice  was  erected  and  the 
second  story  was  ample  for  its  needs.  In  1868, 
w1  n  a  great  number  of  the  members  had  died,  Mr. 
George  Peabody,  the  London  banker,  gave  a  large 
sum  of  money  to  the  Museum,  and  the  name  was 
changed  to  "Peabody  Academy  of  Science,"  or, 
as  it  is  now  called,  "Peabody  Museum."  Since 
that  time,  its  quarters  have  been  very  much  in- 
creased, the  lower  story  not  only  being  used,  but 
more  rooms  have  been  added.  Contributions  are 
continually  made  by  friends  far  and  near,  and  its 
fame  is  widespread.  But  there  was  an  especial 
artistic  charm  about  the  place  when  I  was  a  child, 


112  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

which  has '  passed  with  the  change  to  a  more 
scientific  arrangement. 

When  my  oldest  sister  and  I  were  very  young 
nothing  pleased  us  more  than  to  have  our  grand- 
father say  to  us,  "Little  girls,  do  you  want  to  go  to 
the  Museum?"  Of  course  we  always  wanted  to  go, 
and  we  started  off  gaily,  each  one  holding  a  hand, 
until  we  reached  the  magic  door  which  opened 
onto  so  many  wonders.  There,  while  our  grand- 
father joined  a  group  of  sea  captains  (for  there 
always  seemed  to  be  a  group  there),  my  sister 
and  I  wandered  almost  breathlessly  around  the 
hall,  glad  to  stay  there  for  hours  if  we  were  per- 
mitted, in  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  were  in  mortal 
terror  of  the  janitor,  Captain  Saul,  who  glided 
silently  about,  every  now  and  then  saying  to  us 
in  a  sepulchral  tone,  "Don't  make  so  much  noise, 
little  girls,"  when  we  had  not  dared  to  speak 
above  a  whisper. 

There  are  two  days  in  the  year  that  stood  out 
pre-eminently  in  my  grandfather's  life,  the  Fourth 
of  July  and  Thanksgiving,  when  children  and 
grandchildren  gathered  to  do  him  honor.  Not 
only  were  we  bidden  to  dinner,  but  to  tea  as  well, 
and  the  hours,  especially  for  the  young  people, 
flew  as  if  on  wings.  The  birthday  was  the  day  of 
days,  ushered  in  by  the  ringing  of  bells,  of  course 
in  Grandpa's  honor  to  our  young  minds.  On  that 
day  the  dinner  was  served  in  the  drawing  room, 
the  table  running  the  whole  length  of  the  room, 
while  small  tables  were  placed  in  front  of  the 


• 


WITH    THE    GRANDCHILDREN        113 

alcoves  for  the  little  people.  Then  the  choice 
Canton  china,  the  beautiful  cut  glass  from  Hol- 
land, the  two  silver  cans  marked  I.  L.  N.  for  the 
great-grandfather  and  grandmother,  and  filled 
with  cider,  graced  the  table.  The  guests,  some- 
times to  the  number  of  thirty,  assembled  in  the 
western  parlor,  and  when  dinner  was  announced 
Grandpa  rose  from  his  large  rocking  chair,  offered 
his  arm  to  Grandma,  and  led  the  way  to  the 
drawing  room,  to  the  middle  of  the  long  side  of 
the  table,  facing  the  door.  When  the  guests  were 
assigned  to  their  places,  everyone  stood,  while 
the  clergyman  beside  my  grandfather,  usually  Dr. 
Emerson1  in  my  girlhood,  asked  the  blessing.  A 
moment  more  of  silence,  thjen  the  chairs  were 
drawn  out,  and  as  friends  were  seated,  the  merri- 
ment began.  Two  of  the  sons  were  the  carvers 
at  the  ends  of  the  table,  one  having  charge  of  the 
little  roast  pig,  the  other  of  the  Spring  lamb. 
With  the  dessert  came  the  Family  Toast,  the 
giving  of  which  was  assigned  to  my  Aunt  Lydia. 
She  rose,  with  her  wine  glass  in  hand,  and  began, 
"To  friends  present  and  absent."  Everyone 
repeated  her  words,  then  a  sip  of  wine.  She  con- 
tinued, "Duty  to  Sir  and  Ma'am" — a  pause— 
"Love  to  brothers  and  sisters,  Respects  to  uncles 
and  aunts  and  friends,"  looking  around  the  table 

1  Rev.  Brown  Emerson,  D.  D.,  was  the  pastor  of  the 
South  Church,  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Cambridge  Streets 
in  Salem.  He  succeeded  Rev.  Dr.  Hopkins  and  was 
married  to  his  daughter. — Ed. 


114  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

as  she  spoke,  then  ending  with,  "Health  to 
myself."  But  the  Toast  was  never  allowed  to 
proceed  smoothly.  She  was  constantly  inter- 
rupted by  her  brothers  with,  "Lydia,  that  wasn't 
right,  begin  it  again,"  until  at  last  she  sank  into 
her  chair,  laughing  with  the  others,  but  really 
tired. 

The  Toast  came  down  from  an  earlier  genera- 
tion, and  if  any  strangers  were  present  the  history 
of  the  silver  cans  was  given.  In  the  Great  Grand- 
father Ichabod's  day,  they  were  daily  placed  on 
the  table  for  dinner,  one  containing  cider  for  the 
older  members  of  the  family,  the  other,  water  for 
the  children,  and  they  all  drank  from  the  cans. 
If  a  child  wanted  some  water  he  must  rise,  draw 
the  can  towards  him,  and  repeat  the  Toast  before 
drinking,  while  everyone  at  the  table  laid  down 
their  knives  and  forks  to  listen.  My  Grandfather 
said  he  often  tried  to  take  the  can  and  avoid  the 
ceremony,  but  the  keen  eye  of  his  father  detected 
him,  and  a  stern  "George"  brought  him  to  his 
duty.  He  said  he  often  went  thirsty  to  avoid 
the  ordeal.  As  there  was  a  large  family,  the 
dinner  must  have  been  lengthened  indefinitely. 

When  the  guests  rose  from  the  table,  on  the 
birthday,  they  scattered  in  various  directions, 
some  to  the  garden,  others  for  a  quiet  talk  in  the 
parlor,  while  the  young  grandchildren  amused 
themselves  with  firecrackers  and  torpedoes.  On 
one  occasion,  my  little  brother  Charlie,  a  child  of 
five  or  six  years  old,  brought  from  home  a  big 


WITH    THE    GRANDCHILDREN        115 

bag  of  torpedoes,  and  put  it  in  a  chair  in  the  hall 
while  he  hung  up  his  hat.  At  that  moment  my 
grandfather  came  into  the  hall,  and  chose  that 
very  chair  for  his  seat.  A  loud  explosion 
followed,  which  startled  the  old  gentleman,  while 
Charlie  was  dissolved  in  tears  at  the  sudden  dis- 
appearance of  his  fun.  The  tears  were  soon 
dried,  however,  when  Grandpa,  after  recovering 
from  his  surprise,  gave  him  money  to  buy  more 
torpedoes. 

After  tea,  when  the  sunset  bells  were  ringing, 
the  young  people  went  up  to  the  garret,  unhooked 
the  scuttle,  and  stepped  out  onto  the  gravelled 
square  on  the  roof  where  the  great-grandfather 
Peirce  used  to  stand,  with  spy  glass  in  hand,  when 
he  was  expecting  his  ships  to  sail  up  the  river. 
Now  the  call  was  the  festival  spirit,  and  patriotic 
songs  were  sung,  the  sound  of  the  music  floating 
down  to  the  street  below,  to  the  passers-by,  who 
stopped  to  listen. 

With  the  gathering  dusk  there  was  the  careful 
locking  of  the  scuttle,  a  groping  back  through 
the  dark  garret,  a  re-appearance  in  the  parlor  for 
a  short  time,  when  the  good-nights  were  said,  and 
the  happy  day  was  ended. 

The  birthday  on  July  4th,  1863  was  exception- 
ally interesting.  There  was  a  large  gathering  of 
relatives  and  friends.  In  the  course  of  the  day, 
reports  came  in  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg,  to 
which  my  grandfather  listened  with  the  deepest 
attention.  The  patriotic  songs  were  sung  with 


116  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

unusual  fervor  on  the  roof  at  sunset,  and  there 
was  a  note  of  seriousness  added  to  the  joy.  That 
was  the  last  birthday  celebration  in  my  grand- 
father's honor.  The  next  year,  1864,  the  dear 
little  grandmother  was  too  delicate  for  the  festiv- 
ity and  on  July  19th  she  died. 

The  Thanksgiving  celebration  differed  in  its 
aspect  from  the  birthday.  It  was  entirely  a 
family  gathering,  and  the  members  arrived  from 
their  various  churches,  to  meet  the  uncles  and 
aunts  and  cousins  from  Boston  and  Cambridge. 

The  dinner  was  served  in  the  dining  room,  and 
while  the  roast  turkey  and  the  boiled  turkey  were 
carved  by  two  of  the  sons  at  the  ends  of  the  table, 
the  sermons  were  discussed  and  their  salient 
points  emphasized. 

The  serving  of  puddings  and  pies  was  a  signal 
for  reminiscences,  when  the  sons  and  daughters 
eulogized  their  grandmothers'  pies — there  never 
were  such  pies  as  her  squash  pies — and  as  we 
listened  to  the  account  of  the  rich  cream,  the  pure 
ginger  and  the  attar  of  rose  that  entered  into  their 
composition,  we  did  not  wonder  at  the  praise, 
while  we  were  quite  satisfied  with  the  pies  before 
us,  and  the  granddaughter's  fancies  sped  forward 
to  the  future,  when  these  pies  would  be  eulogized 
also. 

Of  course  the  Family  Toast  was  given,  and  we 
lingered  long  over  the  nuts  and  raisins,  even  after 
the  grandparents  had  excused  themselves  for  a 
little  rest,  for  all  were  to  meet  at  tea  again. 


The  lower  hall,  with  Its  delicate  carving  and  broad,   low  stairway, 
where  friends  were  always  made  welcome. 


WITH    THE    GRANDCHILDREN        117 

There  was  one  privilege  granted  to  the  grand- 
children on  these  two  festivals.  It  was  our 
grandfather's  wish  that  we  should  run  up  and 
down  the  front  stairs  as  much  as  we  pleased,  and 
we  carried  out  his  wishes  to  the  fullest  extent. 
On  ordinary  occasions,  we  were  expected  to  use 
the  winding  staircase  leading  from  the  side  hall, 
or  the  back  stairs  from  the  kitchen. 

On  one  Thanksgiving  day,  my  brother  George 
elected  to  slide  down  the  banisters  on  the  highly 
polished  mahogany  rail.  He  had  brass  buttons 
on  his  jacket,  and  the  ominous  scratching  fright- 
ened the  rest  of  the  children.  As  he  jumped  off 
at  the  newel  post,  we  all  stood  aghast  at  the  harm 
done.  My  mother  was  quickly  summoned,  and 
she  stood  silent  and  dismayed  at  the  sight.  At 
that  moment,  Aunt  Mary,  the  youngest  daughter, 
came  through  the  hall,  and  Mother  explained  the 
catastrophe.  My  aunt  smiled  and  said,  "Oh,  I'll 
take  those  scratches  all  off  tomorrow  with  some 
furniture  polish."  Then  putting  her  arm  around 
George's  shoulders,  she  said,  "You'll  promise  not 
to  do  it  again,  dear,  won't  you?"  Not  a  word  of 
reproach,  only  that  loving  appeal,  to  which  the 
boy  responded  with  his  whole  heart. 

The  latter  part  of  the  afternoon,  the  youngest 
grandchildren  were  sent  upstairs  to  play  tag  in 
the  upper  hall,  to  get  up  an  appetite  for  supper, 
which  never  failed  to  come. 

In  the  gloaming,  we  went  into  the  north- 
eastern upper  room,  climbed  onto  a  deep  shelf 


118  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

near  a  window,  which  commanded  a  view  of  the 
river  and  the  Beverly  shore  opposite,  and  there 
we  told  stories  until  we  were  summoned  to  the 
tea  table,  where  we  did  full  justice  to  the  delica- 
cies spread  before  us. 

In  the  evening  we  gathered  around  the  lamp 
in  the  parlor,  while  Grandpa  told  some  of  the 
stories  of  his  childhood  and  Aunt  Lydia  sang, 
"Sweet  William"  and  "Twelve  Days  of  Christ- 
mas," to  the  great  entertainment  of  us  all. 

Gradually  the  little  children  grew  quiet  and 
found  it  comfortable  to  lean  against  "Mother," 
then  there  was  a  bundling  up  in  hoods  and  caps 
and  cloaks,  goodnight  kisses  all  around  the  room, 
a  brisk  walk  in  the  cool  air,  and  a  night  filled  with 
bright  dreams  of  a  wonderful  day. 

One  more  festive  occasion  stands  out  clearly  in 
my  memory,  of  a  tea  party  given  during  the 
summer  for  a  Boston  cousin  of  my  grandfather, 
who  drove  over  to  Salem  from  his  summer  resi- 
dence in  Swampscott,  with  his  wife,  daughter  and 
one  or  two  sons,  to  visit  not  only  the  household 
to  which  he  was  bidden,  but  also  to  meet  other 
relatives  down  to  the  third  generation.  Then  it 
was  that  the  daintiest  of  dresses  were  in  demand, 
and  the  anticipations  of  pleasure  were  always 
realized.  Even  the  young  girls  were  greeted  as 
"Cousins"  by  the  courtly  old  gentleman  with 
white  hair  and  beard,  and  it  was  a  delight  to  hear 
him  and  my  grandfather  call  each  other  George 


WITH    THE    GRANDCHILDREN        119 

and  William,  as  they  talked  over  interesting 
experiences  of  their  younger  days. 

But  there  were  also  quiet  teas,  when  we  were 
summoned  to  Grandpa's,  which  meant  a  long 
afternoon,  with  our  sewing.  Then,  on  our  arriv- 
al, we  found  our  four  aunts  in  Aunt  Lydia's  room, 
overlooking  the  courtyard,  and  the  counting  room 
and  storehouse. 

In  the  course  of  time,  Grandma  would  come 
across  the  little  passageway  from  her  room,  work 
basket  in  hand,  and  find  the  low  ladderback  Chip- 
pendale chair  ready  and  waiting  for  her.  There 
was  an  added  glow  and  brightness  to  the  room 
when  she  came  in,  with  her  sparkling  witticisms. 

Grandpa  was  not  often  far  behind,  for  even  his 
book  seemed  to  have  lost  its  interest  without  the 
silent  companionship  of  his  wife.  He  readily 
caught  the  friendly  spirit  of  the  hour  and  had  a 
special  word  for  each  grandchild.  I  was  always 
the  "old  lady",  why,  I  do  not  know,  but  it  was 
his  pet  name  for  me. 

When  we  were  summoned  to  tea,  we  went  down 
to  the  dining  room  over  the  winding  side  stairs, 
and  we  stood  behind  our  chairs,  with  bent  heads, 
while  Grandpa  said  the  following  Grace:  "We  im- 
plore Thy  blessing,  O  God,  on  the  repast  now 
before  us,  for  Christ's  sake."  My  oldest  Aunt 
presided  over  the  tea  table,  my  grandparents 
seated  at  the  side,  relieved  of  all  responsibility. 
The  tea  was  very  hot,  for  at  once  a  portion  of  it 
was  poured  into  the  saucer,  and  the  cup  placed 


120  A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 

in  a  tiny  blue  Staffordshire  cup  plate,  provided  for 
the  purpose,  while  the  tea  was  drunk  from  the 
saucer.  It  must  have  been  a  passing  fashion 
even  at  that  time,  for  we  were  not  allowed  to 
follow  it,  in  our  young  days. 

The  fragrance  of  that  supper  table  lingers  in 
my  memory,  sometimes  from  broiled  salt  cod  fish 
for  a  relish,  milk  toast  such  as  was  never  made 
anywhere  else,  squash  muffins,  and  cakes  of  great 
variety,  peculiar  to  Grandpa's. 

So  the  serene,  happy  years  glided  on,  leaving 
beautiful  memories  with  his  grandchildren.  One 
of  his  grandsons,  Rev.  Harry  P.  Nichols,  D.  D.,1  of 
New  York,  recalls  how  our  Aunt  Elizabeth  used 
to  read  the  newspaper  to  Grandpa  every  night, 
knitting  as  she  read,  while  he  often  crept  into  the 
room  to  listen,  and  he  said  it  gave  him  his  first 
interest  in  reading  the  papers. 

The  same  cousin  also  sends  me  the  following 
anecdote  of  our  own  Grandmother  Nichols,  that 
when  she  felt  ill,  she  went  to  bed  and  spent  her 
time  repeating  the  119th  Psalm,  with  its  176  vers- 
es, which  he  considered  a  great  feat  of  memory. 

My  grandfather  retained  his  mental  vigor, 
although  physically  more  delicate  as  the  end  of 
his  life  approached.  He  remained  in  active  bus- 
iness until  he  was  on  the  verge  of  seventy  years, 
when  he  relinquished  the  chief  care  and  responsi- 

i  Rev.  Harry  Peirce  Nichols  D.  D.,  the  youngest  son  of 
Charles  Sanders  Nichols,  is  rector  of  Holy  Trinity  Church, 
New  York  City. 


Copied   from   a  portrait   of  George   Nichols   when   he 
was  seventy  years  old. 


WITH    THE    GRANDCHILDREN        121 

bility  to  two  of  his  sons,  although  he  still  retained 
an  interest,  and  his  name  remained  at  the  head  of 
the  firm  until  his  death. 

He  was  thus  enabled  to  lead  the  life  of  a 
gentleman  of  leisure,  but  he  did  not  lead  an  idle 
life ;  he  was  a  great  reader,  and  his  garden  was  an 
unfailing  source  of  delight  and  occupation  to  him. 

He  gave  full  scope  to  his  hospitality,  and  friends 
were  always  welcome  from  far  and  near. 

In  politics  he  was  always  on  the  liberal  side. 
When  the  Free  Soil  party  was  formed,  he  joined 
its  ranks,  later  becoming  a  Republican.  He  voted 
both  times  for  Lincoln,  the  second  time  being  so 
feeble  it  was  hard  for  him  to  go  to  the  polls,  even 
in  a  carriage,  but  throughout  his  life  he  always 
felt  it  his  pleasure,  as  well  as  his  duty,  to  vote. 

In  1908  my  sister  received  a  business  note  from 
a  gentleman,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  remem- 
bered her  grandfather,  George  Nichols,  very  well, 
adding,  "I  saw  him  cast  his  last  vote  in  1864  for 
Lincoln,  and  the  people  in  the  ward  room  gave  him 
three  cheers."  That  was  indeed  his  last  vote,  as 
before  another  year  came  around  he  had  passed 
on.  He  died  on  the  19th  of  October,  1865. 

The  following  notice  is  from  the  Salem  Gazette : 

"19th,  George  Nichols,  Esq.,  87  years,  3  months, 
15  days;  having  been  born  July  4th,  1778,  being 
the  oldest  native  born  citizen  of  Salem.  A  gentle- 
man distinguished  alike  for  purity  of  character, 
honorable  and  conscientious  dealing,  benevolence 
of  heart,  and  the  faithful  discharge  of  every  duty." 


INDEX 


A. 

Abbott,   Benjamin  27 

"Active",  Schooner  41 

"Active",    Ship:    48,  49,    51,    65, 

67,   76,  80,   89,  94. 

Adams,  Joseph  63 

Adams,  Rebecca  63 

Agulhas  Bank  87 

Akers,  Paul  25 

Alexandria  38 

Algerines  50 

Allen,  Edward  48 

America  37,  46 

"America",  Ship  67,  69 

American:  42,  43,  45,  46,  73,  74, 

83,  85. 

Amsterdam              80,  81,  82,  83 

Amsterdam,  Island  of  32 

Andover  96 

Anjer  36 

Anthony  28 

Antwerp  81,   82,   83 

Armenian  57 

Assembly  House  12,  99 

"Astrea"  29 

Atlantic  31,  84 

B. 

Ballad  of  "Sweet  William"     90 
Bancroft,  George  27 

Barnard  heirs  29 

Barnard,  Rev.  Thos.,  Jr.  16,  24 
Barton  Square  28,  106,  107 

Barton  Square  Church  100 

Batavia  32,  34,  35,  36 

Becket  48 

Beckford  Street  106,  107 

Bentley,  Dr.  48 

Bergen.   North  41 

"Betsy",  Ship  40 

Beverly  29,  45,  65,  118 

Blackler.  Capt.  87 

"Blonde".   Ship  67 

Boardman,  Francis  75 

Boardman,  Mary  Hodges        75 
Boardman,  Sarah  75 

Bombay  48,   49,   52,   63 

Bordeaux  67 

Boston:  23,  27.  40.  59,  60.  61.  65 

84.  85,  86.  96,  99,  101,  104,  116. 
118. 


Boston  Harbor  60 

Boston  Street  106 

Bourbon  Island  39 

Bowdoin  College  25 

Brattle  St.  Church,  Boston  25 

Brazer,  Rev.  John,  D.  D.  16 
Bremen 

Brewster.  Mrs.  William  23 

Briggs,  Capt.  Jeremiah:  67,  68, 

69,  70,  72. 

British:    45,    46,    50,    51,    77,  78, 

79,    80,    94. 

Bryant,  Lydia  Brookhouse  39 

Bryant,  Capt.  Timothy:  39,  42, 

43,  48. 

Buckminster  25 

Bunker  Hill  60 
Bunyan,   John 

Burgess  53 

C. 

Cabot,  Mr.  86 

Calcutta  52,  57,  59,  87 

Cambridge  25,  39,  116 

Cambridge  Street       29,  99,   113 

Cape  Town  31,  32,  78 

Carnes 

Cass,  Lewis  27 

Cat  20 

Cattegat  45 

Catherine  of  Russia 

Cavete  73,  75 

Central  Wharf 

Ceylon,  Island  of  57 

Charlestown,  Mass.     33,  62,  101 

"Chesapeake"  50 

Chestnut    Street:    65,    99,    102, 

105.   113. 

Choate,   Dr.  George  59 

Choate,  Hon.  Joseph  Hodges  59 
Christiansund 

Clemens,  Capt.  45,  4( 

Cleveland,  President  Grover  102 
Coasting  19 

Colman.  Rev.  Henry         95.  101 
Colombo  57 

Cooke,  George  Frederick        54 
Copenhagen:   29,   30,   40.   42.   44, 

45. 
Coromandel  Coast  57 


123 


124 


A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 


County  Street  64,  103 

Court  House  12 

Covent  Garden  Theatre    53,  54 

Cronstadt                         30,   43,  44 

Crosswell  22 

Crowninshield,   Capt.  50 

Crowninshields  67 

Curtis,  Sir  Roger,  Admiral  78 

D. 

Danes  57 

Danvers  87,  99 

Danvers  Company  64 

Dartmouth  College  101 

Deane,  Rev.  Dr.  25 

Dearborn,  Benjamin  23,   24 

Demonte  57,  58 

Denmark  57 

Derby,  Capt.  74 
Derby,  Elias  Haskett  17,  29 

Derby,  Richard  17 

Derby  Street  17,  38 

Devereux,  James  65 

Dickerson,    Thomas  52 

Dickerson,   Mr.  59 

Dodge,  Israel  64 
Dodge,  Lucia  Pickering  64 
Dodge,  Pickering 

Dover  51 
Dover,  Straits  of 

Dublin  Theatre  54 
Dutch  42,  76,  77,  78,  82 
Dutch  Bast  India  Company  35 

E. 

East  Church  (Second  Unita- 
rian) 52 
East  India  Co.  52 
East  India  Marine  Society  111 
East  India  Museum  36,  111,  112 
East  Indies  35,  104 
Elizabeth.  Princess  53 
Elkins,  Elizabeth  44 
Elkins,  Martha  104 
Elsinore  30,  42,  45 
Emden  82,  83 
Emerson,  Rev.  Brown,  D.  D. 

113. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo  108 
Emerson,  Waldo  108 

Endicott,  Samuel  102 

Endicott,  Mrs.  Samuel  102 
Endicott,  Hon.  William 

Crowninshield  102 

England:   17,   46,   54,   57,   77,   78, 

89.    101. 

English  42,   45,   49,   57,   77 

Englishman  42,  57 

"Enterprize",   Ship  41 

"Essex",  Bark  29 


Essex  Street:   29,   64,   100,   102, 

111. 

"Eunice",  Brigantine  31 

Europe  77 

European  57 

Everett,  Edward  27 

Exeter  26,  27 

F. 

Falmouth,   England  78 

Falmouth,   Mass.  39 
"Family  Toast"       113,  114,  116 

Federal    Street:    64,    93,  98,    99, 

100,    103,   106,    108. 

"Fields"  65 

First  Church  100 

Fishley  22 

Fiske,  Dr.  John  E.  64 

Flint  Street  64 

Forrester,  Capt.  Simon  38 

Fourth  of  July  112 

France                               37,  67,  79 

France,  Isle  of              37,  38,  85 

Free  Soil  Party  121 

French                              37,  57,   67 

French  Frigate  59,   60 

French  Privateer  42,  46 

Front  Street  64 

G. 

Gardner,  Maj.  17 

Gardner  Street  17 

George  the  Third  53 

Gettysburg,   Battle  of  115 

Gill,  Mr.  52,   53 

Gloucester  44 

Good  Hope,  Cape  of:  31,  32,  36, 

37,   77,  87,   94,   111. 
Goodhue,  Dorothy  Ashton       53 

Goodhue,  Johnathan  53 

Gool,  John  99 

Gool,  Lois  Pickering  99 

Gool.  Sarah  99 

Grafton,   Joseph  104 

"Grand  Turk"  29 

Gravesend  54 

Gray,  William  28 

Gray,  William,  Jr.  41 

Great  Pastures  106 

Green,  Capt.   John  29 

H. 

Halifax  50 

Hamilton  Hall  12,  99 

Harris,  Mary  101 

Harris,  Thomas  101 

Harvard  College:  24,  25,  27,  94, 

105. 

Hathorne.  Capt.  Daniel  37 

Hellevoethius  79 

Hickling,  Catherine  G.  60 


INDEX 


125 


Hingham  101 

Hodges,    Capt.    Benjamin:    29, 

39,  41,  44,  48,  60,  73. 
Hodges,   Gamaliel,   Sr.  52 

Hodges,  Gamaliel:  45,  48,  59,  60 
Hodges,  Capt.  George  45 

Hodges,  Hannah  King  44 

Hodges,  John  59 

Hodges,  Margaret  Manning  59 
Hodges,  Mary  Manning  29,  59 
Hodges,  Sarah  52 

Holland  78,   81,  113 

Hopkins,  Rev.  Daniel,  D.  D.  62 
Hopkins  113 

Horn,  Cape  111 

Huguenot  104 


India 
Ireland 
Isaacs,  Capt. 
Islington 


32,   57.   65,   85 

38 

83 

101 


J. 


Janson,  Governor  77 

Japan  76 

Japanese  76 

Jefferson,  President  45 

Jenks,   Daniel  64 
Jenks,  Mary                         64,  87 

Jenks,   Rebecca  64 

Jew  85 

Johonnot,  Francis  104 

Johonnot,   George   Stuart:  104, 

107. 

Johonnot,  Martha 

Johonnot,  Mary  Johnson  104 

Johonnot,   Mr.   and  Mrs.  107 


K. 


73,   74, 


Kerr,  Mr. 
Killam,  John 
King,  Hannah 
King,  William 

L. 

Lafayette,    Marquis 
Lander,  Benjamin 
Lander,  Helen  D. 
Lander,  Lucy  A. 
Lander,  Peter 
Lander,  Sarah 
Lander,  Sarah  Luscomb 
Lander,  Capt.  William 
Lander.   Mr.   William 
Lawrence,   Capt. 
Leach,  Capt.  John 
Leahay,    Daniel 
Leighton.   Luke 
Leslie.  Col. 
Lexington.    Battle   of 


87,  88 
92 
29 
29 


99 
99 
87 
87 
87 
64 
99 

87,  88 
87 
50 
93 
17 
18 

16,  64 
62 


Lincoln,  Abraham  121 

Liverpool  49,  51 

London:   49,   51,  52,   53,   78,   85, 

111. 

Louis  38 

Ludlow,  Capt.  50 

Lyss  57 

M. 

Maas  79 

Madeira  54 

Madras         57,  58,  59,  60,  85,  86 

Malacca,   Straights  of  73,   93 

Malays                       67,   69,  70,   72 

Mall  Street  38 

Mandal  41,  42 

Manila          31,  73,  75,  76,  86,  87 

Marblehead  87 

Marlborough  Street  103 

Martha's  Vineyard  39 

Massachusetts              45,  64,  99 

Masury,  Nellie  63 

Mavor's  Voyages  63 

McGee,  Susan  64 
Mclntire,  Samuel  12,  99,  103 

Mechanic   Street  17 

Medford  64 

"Merchant  of  Venice"  54 

Mills,   Mrs.  18 

Mill  Street  12 

Minute  men  64 
Monackjee,  Nasser  Vanji:  49, 

63. 

Monroe  Street  100 

Moseley,    Capt.  41 

Mukka  67,  72 

N. 

Nagasaki  76 

Neptune  92 

Newburyport  31 

Newfoundland,  Banks  of  80 
New  Street  103 

New  York  27,  76,  83,  87,  120 
Nichols,  Benjamin  Ropes  86 
Nichols,  "Charlie"  114,  115 
Nichols,  Charles  Sanders  109 
Nichols,  Charlotte  63 

Nichols,  Elizabeth  Peirce:  106, 

120. 
Nichols,  George.  Capt.:  11,  12, 

16.  48,  68,  80,  95,  104,  105,  114, 

121. 

Nichols.  George  99,  105,  108 
Nichols,  George  Ropes  108,  117 
Nichols,  Rev.  Harry  Peirce, 

D.  D.  120 

Nichols,  Henry  Peirce  100 

Nichols,  Ichabod:  12.  17,  24,  28, 

41,   48,  106.   107.   114. 
Nichols,  Rev.  Ichabod     24,  106 


126 


A  SALEM  SHIPMASTER 


Nichols,  John  28 

Nichols,  John  H.  99,  105,  108 
Nichols,  Lydia  Ropes  24,  28 
Nichols,  Lydia  Ropes,  2nd  94 
Nichols,  Lydia  Ropes,  3rd:  12, 

98,  101,  106,  113,  114,  118,  119 
Nichols,  Mary  Jane  117 

Nichols,  Sarah  Peirce  98,  101 
Ningpo  76 

Niscontin  41 

Norman   Street 

North  Bridge  16 

North   Carolina 

North  Church,  Portsmouth  24 
North  Church,  Salem:  16,  24, 

100. 

North  River  104 

North  Salem  65 

North  Sea  41,   47 

North  Street  64,  103 

Norway  41,  45,  46,  85 

O. 

Orange  Street  29 

Orne,  Capt.  William 

Osgood,  Miss  65 

P. 

Palfrey,  John  G.  27 

"Pallas" 

Parsees  48 

Paul,  Emperor  of  Russia        43 

Peabody  Academy  of  Science: 

111. 

Peabody  Museum  111 

Peabody,    Col.    Francis 
Peabody,  George 
Peabody,  George,  Banker     111 
Peele,  Mr.  51,  55,   56 

Peirce,    Benjamin,    brother    of 

Jerathmiel  62 

Peirce,  Benjamin  48,  9' 

Peirce,   Mrs.  Benjamin 
Peirce,  Prof.  Benjamin 
Peirce,  Betsey          63,  104,  107 
Peirce,  Jerameel  62 

Peirce,  Jerathmiel:  62,  63,  103. 

115. 

Peirce,  Rebecca 
Peirce,  Rebecca  Hurd  62 

Peirce,  Sarah  12,  63 

Peirson,  Dr.  Abel 
Peirson,    Dr.    Edward   S.  .     106 
Pepperell 
Perkins,  Capt. 
Peters.    Miss. 
Petersburg,  Virginia 
Philadelphia  28,   83,    87 

Phillips    Academy,    Exeter      27 
Pickering  Estate 
Pickering,  Mary  86 


Pickering  Street  65 

Pickering,  Col.  Timothy  86,  99 
Pickman,  Dudley  L.  65 

Pickman,  Dudley  L.,  3rd  65 
Pickman,  Elizabeth  Leavitt  65 
Pickman,  William  Leavitt  65 
Picul  67,  71 

Piscataqua  River  18 

Point  Petre,  Guadaloupe  28 
Pondicherry  57 

Portland  106 

Portland,  First  Parish  Church: 

25 
Portsmouth,   N.  H.:   17,   22,  23, 

24,  25,  27,  28,  50,  86,  94. 
"Portsmouth",   Ship  50 

Portuguese  57 

Prescott,   William  60 

Prescott,    Col.   William  60 

Prescott,   William  H.  60 

Prince,  Henry  17 

Prince,    Mary  17 

Providence  84 

Punchard,  Deacon  63,  94 

Putnam,   Bartholomew  52 

Putnam,   Elizabeth  102 

Putnam,  Deacon  Gideon  99 
Putnam,  Judge  Samuel  99 

Putnam,  Ruth  Gardner  52 

Putnam,    Samuel  99 

Putnam,  William  102 

Pynchon,   Judge  104 

Pynchon,  William  104 

R. 

Rajah  70,   71 

"Rambler",  Ship  94 

Ramsgate  54,    85 

Republican  121 

"Revenge",    Schooner  50 

Revolution,   The  45,   93 

Richard  III.  54 
Ropes,  Benjamin  12,  62,  93 

Ropes,   Henry  17 

Ropes,   Judge  29 

Ropes,  Lydia  12 

Ropes,    Peggy  65 

Ropes,  Ruth  93 

Ropes,    Sarah  62 

Rotterdam  78,   79 

Russell,  Thomas  33 

Russia  30,  43 

Rust's  Wharf  70 

S. 

Salem:  12.  13.  15,  16,  17,  24,  28, 
29,  31,  34,  37,  38,  39,  40,  41, 
44,  45,  48,  49,  50,  51,  53,  58, 
59,  60,  61,  62,  63,  64,  65,  67, 
70,  80.  81.  84,  87,  93,  99,  100, 
101.  102.  104.  106.  113.  118,  121 


INDEX 


127 


Salem  Bank  Building  111 

Salem  Club  38 

"Salem  Gazette"  121 

"Salem  News"  28 

Salem,  North  15,  106 

Salem,  South  106 

"Sally",   Schooner  39 

Sally  (Peirce)  63 

Sanders,  Catherine  65 

Sanders,  Charles  63 

Sanders,  Elizabeth  Elkins  65 
Sanders,  Sarah  44 

Sanders,  Thomas  44,  65,  99 
Sanders,  Hon.  Thomas  44 

Sanders,  Mrs.  Thomas  104 
Sandwich  40 

Saturi  57 

Saul,  Capt.  112 

Seals  32,   33,   34,   66 

Sears  59 

"Shannon"  50 

Shaw,  Capt.  50 

Shaw,  Molly  18 

Shark  36 

Shreve,  Dr.  O.  B.  65 

Shylock  54 

Siberia  43,  44 

Silsbee,  Benjamin  Hodges  44 
Silsbee,  John  Henry  44,  64 

Silsbee,  Nathaniel  43,  75 

Silsbee,  Hon.   Nathaniel  43 

Silsbee,  Sarah  Beckett  43,  75 
Silsbee,  William  29,  43,  75 

Silsbee,   Rev.   William  44 

Silsbee,  Zachariah  75 

Sinclair,  Elizabeth  Ropes  50 
Sinclair,  John,  Sr.  50 

Sinclair,   John  50,    66 

Slocum,  Ebenezer  72,  83 

Somerville  99 

South  Church  12,   62,  113 

Southwick,  Cassandra  11 

Southwick,   Provided  11 

Sparks,   Jared  27 

Sprague,  Maj.   Joseph  64 

St.  John  the  Evangelist  25 
St.  Paul,  Island  of  32,  55,  66 
St.  Petersburg:  29,  30,  40,  41, 

43.   44. 

St.  Peter  Street  103,  111 

Staffordshire  120 

Stearns   Building  111 

Stebbins,  Rev.  Horatio  25 

Sterling  102 

Stone.  Robert  65 

Sumatra  65,  66 

Summer   Street  12 

Sunda,  Straits  of  36 

Swampscott  118 


"Sweet  William"  118 

Swett,  Enoch          31,  32,  35,  91 

T. 

Table  Bay  31,  37,  66,  77 

Tappan,  Amos  24,  26 

Tappan,  Professor  24 

Texel  80 

Thames  52 

Thanksgiving  112,   116 

Thorndike  59 

Tobias  85 

Tontine  Block  98,  104 

Townsend,  Capt.  Moses          86 
Treadwell,    Dolly  53 

Treadwell,  Dr.  John  Dexter   53 
Treadwell,  John  Goodhue       53 
"Twelve   Days  of  Christmas": 
118. 


Union  Street 
Union  Wharf 
Unitarian 
United  States 


U. 


31 

59,  106 

16,  100 

50,  54,   67 


V. 


Vernon,  Mr.  Augustus  44 

"Vigilant",   Bark  37 

Virginia  39 

W. 

Waite,   Aaron  62 

Waite,  Daniel  62 

Ward,   Hannah  Derby  64 

Ward,  Miles  64 

Ward,    Mr.  69 

Ward,  Joshua  64 

Ware,  Horace  13 
Warren  Street                    98,  104 

Washington,   City  of  87 
"Washington,    George",    Brig: 

70. 

Washington,    General  64 

Washington  Square  38 
Washington  Street:  28,  64,  103, 

111. 

Webb,   Mr.  89 

Webb,   Capt.  Thomas  70 

Webster,    Daniel  27 

Wentworth   Family  17 

West  India  29 

Westminster  54 
Whittier.  John  Greenleaf        11 

White,   Judge   Daniel  29 

White,   Eliza  Orne  29 

Williams,  Frances  31 

Williams.  Samuel  L.  64 

Williams,  Sarah  59 

Wills.   M.  82 


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